She put her orange juice, yoghurt, muesli and tea on a tray and took it into her cabin, where she ate, looking out of the small porthole at the mists caressing the river and the tips of the trees.
Now that she had made up her mind that it was over she was anxious to leave, and she wished that they would get under way and head to Athlone.
It was another two hours before they finally started up the engines. Gary had dawdled over his breakfast and then they’d decided to have another mug of tea on deck after the engine and oil checks.
‘Sure what hurry are we in anyway?’ Gary said cheerfully, quite unaware of Carol’s intentions. She couldn’t decide whether to tell him she was going back to Dublin before they set sail or wait until they got to Athlone. She looked at him standing on deck, hair damp from his shower, his forearms tanned and muscular as he coiled a rope, and felt a wave of sadness for what they could have had if he hadn’t been such a jerk. She turned away and slipped below to her cabin to pack her bag.
* * *
‘Carol’s very subdued, isn’t she?’ Jessica remarked to Mike as she steered their boat away from their berth and out into the river.
‘Don’t get involved, let them at it,’ Mike advised. ‘And steer out a bit into the middle, you don’t want us to run aground.’
‘Did I tell you how to steer, bossy boots? Zip it!’
‘OK, but don’t come screaming to me if you land up in the bank—’
‘Oh, go and make me a cup of coffee and stop talking rubbish,’ Jessica ordered crisply, throttling forward to full steam ahead once she was clear of the jetty and the other cruisers.
‘Go easy,’ Mike exclaimed.
‘Coffee.’
Her beloved disappeared below decks, eyes rolling dramatically, and Jessica settled back into her seat to enjoy steering the boat. She was thoroughly enjoying herself. It was a pity that Carol wasn’t; it took the good out of things. She smiled over at her friend, who had just come up with her book. She sat down on the wooden deck, face raised to the sun.
‘Are you OK there, Carol? Will I ask Mike to get you a cup of coffee?’ she asked, slowing down as river etiquette required when passing another cruiser coming in the opposite direction.
‘Naw, I’m fine.’ Carol yawned and patted some suntan cream on to her face.
‘Do you want a go?’
‘No, you keep on driving.’
‘Steering,’ Jessica corrected her with a grin. ‘How are things? Everything sorted?’ she inquired delicately. Gary was stretched out, preparing to snooze, in the bow. He was obviously still recovering from his hangover. He couldn’t hear their conversation.
‘I’ve made up my mind about something,’ Carol said slowly, coming to stand beside Jessica.
‘And what’s that?’ Jessica throttled up again and their speed increased.
‘I’m breaking it off with Gary,’ she confided, shoving her hands into her jeans pockets.
‘What!’ Jessica turned to look at her, astonished. Never in a million years did she think Carol would have the guts to end it.
‘Look where you’re going or we’ll be aground. You’re very near that perch,’ Carol said drily.
‘Yikes!’ Jessica hastily adjusted the wheel, and concentrated for a moment or two on getting back into the middle of the river. ‘Have you said it to him?’
‘Nope, I’m saying it to him when we get to Athlone. I’m giving him his ring back and I’m going back to Dublin.’
‘Oh, Carol, I’m sorry.’ Jessica put an arm around her friend’s shoulder and hugged her.
‘Well, you were always telling me I should end it if I wasn’t happy. I guess I’m taking your advice.’ Carol stared unhappily into the distance, face taut.
Jessica couldn’t be sure, but was there an accusatory barb in the last sentence? ‘Only end it if it’s what you want to do, not because of anything I’ve said,’ she said carefully.
‘Well, you never thought we were right for each other,’ Carol retorted, and Jessica suddenly had the feeling that she was being blamed, that the break-up was all her fault.
‘At the end of the day, what I think doesn’t matter. It’s what you think that counts,’ she countered defensively.
‘Yeah, I know.’ Carol gave a wry smile. ‘I never thought I’d have the guts to do it. I’m kinda glad I’m not a total wimp.’
‘I think you’re doing the right thing and I think you’re really brave. The right one is out there for you, you’ll see.’ Jessica offered the old cliché as sincerely as she could.
Carol’s face crumpled and tears filled her eyes. ‘I thought he was the right one. I’m not very good at judging men. I really love him but he doesn’t love me,’ she whimpered.
‘Carol, don’t cry, please don’t cry. It will be all right. Honest,’ Jessica comforted earnestly, hating to see her friend so miserable
‘I know, I know.’ Carol wiped her eyes with the back of her sleeve. ‘Listen, will you do me a favour?’
‘Sure, anything.’
‘When we get to Athlone, will you and Mike make yourselves scarce for a few minutes until I get it over and done with?’
‘Of course, Carol,’ Jessica agreed unhesitatingly.
‘And don’t tell Mike until I’m gone. He’s so nice, that if he gives me any sympathy at all I’ll start bawling and I really don’t want to do that. I want to be totally composed. I’m not making a holy show of myself in front of Gary Davis.’
‘Dead right you’re not. Don’t give him the satisfaction,’ Jessica said grimly, as Mike’s head appeared through the hatchway and then the rest of him, with her coffee.
‘Want a cup?’ he asked Carol.
‘What, me poison my body with coffee? I think not.’ She arched an eyebrow at him and he laughed.
‘Some peppermint tea then?’
Carol smiled and reached up and kissed him on the cheek. ‘You’re a nice guy, Mike, pity there aren’t more like you.’
‘Well, that’s nice. Did you hear that, Jessie?’ He winked at Carol and jerked his thumb in Jessica’s direction. ‘She thinks I’m a bossy boots.’ He grinned.
‘Well, maybe you are just a bit, in the nicest possible way,’ Carol teased. ‘Couldn’t cope with it myself, but horses for courses.’
‘Thanks, so now I’m a horse,’ Jessica interjected drily.
‘A stubborn mule would be more like it,’ Mike suggested.
Jessica stuck her tongue out at him. ‘Get down to the galley, boy, where you belong, and bring me up a cheese sandwich – I’m starving.’
‘You’ve only just had breakfast,’ he protested.
‘That was ages ago, all this fresh air is making me ravenous.’
‘She’s the bossy one,’ Mike declared as he went below to do as he was bid.
‘That’s the difference between Mike and Gary,’ Carol mused. ‘If I asked Gary to go and make me a cheese sandwich he’d be just as likely to tell me to get lost. He’s a selfish pig.’ She couldn’t contain her anger.
Jessica didn’t know what to say. She couldn’t really jump to Gary’s defence without seeming disloyal to Carol, and she didn’t want to agree with her either, in case, at some future date, they got back together and Gary would once again be the big cheese.
‘Umm,’ she murmured, pretending to concentrate on a narrow stretch of water ahead.
By the time the lock at Athlone came into sight she could feel a tension headache coming on, knowing what was ahead. Would Gary go back to Dublin too? Jessica hoped he would. It would be very awkward otherwise. Carol was below in her cabin; Gary was stretched out on deck reading a big chunky thriller at the front of the boat, happily unaware of what lay ahead for him.
‘Mike, when we dock in Athlone, you and I have to make ourselves scarce. Carol wants to have a few words with Gary,’ she murmured, as her fiancé peered through the binoculars to see if there were many cruisers queuing to get into the lock.
‘They’re not going to have a row, are they?’ he groaned
. ‘I thought she was taking the postponement very calmly. Too calmly in fact.’
‘Hmm, well, she’s not, so we’ll leg it for an hour or so, OK?’
‘OK, whatever you say,’ he said easily. ‘Do you want me to take over now?’
‘I’m fine,’ Jessica said firmly, determined to stay in command of her vessel, annoyed that he felt he was the only one who could steer them into a lock.
‘Locks can be tricky, you should slow down a bit,’ he warned. ‘I think I should do it. You can do one of the smaller ones.’
‘Just get Gary and Carol to stand by the ropes,’ Jessica said tightly, beginning to feel a bit nervous as the lock began to loom large and the weir to the right of them suddenly seemed very threatening. Pride, however, would not let her hand over. Mike’s attitude was now thoroughly annoying her.
‘Hey, you guys, look to your ropes, lock coming up!’ Mike yelled.
Gary scrambled to his feet and Carol hurried up the ladder.
‘Hey, are you not taking over, mate?’ Gary called in surprise as he uncoiled his rope.
‘Jessica wants to take her in.’ Mike hooked his thumbs into his jeans and shrugged.
‘And why not?’ Carol said tartly. ‘You go, girl. You’re well able for it.’
Oh crumbs! Jessica thought anxiously as her palms began to sweat. She couldn’t back down and lose face now, but as she steered nearer the lock and the current seemed to get stronger she was half petrified. There were four other cruisers ahead of them, but to her relief the huge lock gates swung open, disgorging the cruisers coming back down river. At least she’d be able to steer straight in without having to tie up at the quay first. She eased back on the throttle, feeling the pull of the current as it tugged the boat to the right.
‘Don’t slow down too much or you’ll swing out towards the weir,’ Mike warned.
‘You’re a bit near the wall there,’ Carol warned moments later as they closed in on the lock, close on the tail of another cruiser. She grabbed a mop and pushed them away from the wall.
‘Mind the gates, mind the gates! For crying out loud, Jessie, watch where you’re going! Will you slow the bloody thing down!’ Mike was nearly dancing a jig with agitation.
‘Shut up,’ she hissed. ‘I can’t concentrate with you yelling in my ear. You just told me not to slow down too much.’
‘I’m not yelling in your ear!’ he roared. ‘Look what you’re doing. For God’s sake, mind your stern.’
The warning came too late as she whacked the stern off the gate.
‘For crying out loud, Gary, use your boathook and push us away and stop standing there doing nothing,’ she yelled over at him.
‘Ah, calm down, woman,’ Gary called back lazily, enjoying the drama. ‘Let Mike do it. You’re making a bags of it.’
‘You shut up,’ Carol ordered furiously.
‘Let me do it,’ Mike barked. ‘You’re making a show of us.’
To her absolute disgust, he pushed her aside and took the wheel.
Incensed, Jessica rounded on him. ‘How dare you, Mike,’ she stormed. ‘You’ve no business—’
‘Be quiet, Jessie.’ Mike manoeuvred the cruiser into place skilfully. ‘Throw up the ropes,’ he instructed his crew. Gary was breaking his heart laughing as he joined them a minute later.
‘There’s women drivers for you,’ he jeered.
‘They should leave it to the experts.’ Carol was stony-faced.
‘There, that’s how you do it,’ Mike growled as he switched off the engine.
‘Is that right, Mister Know-All. Well, if you ever, ever manhandle me again and treat me like that, you’ll be getting your ring back just like that laughing hyena is getting his.’ She glowered at Gary. ‘You think you’re so funny, don’t you? Well, Carol’s going to wipe the smirk off your face and not before time, Mister Smart Guy.’
‘What?’ Gary chortled. ‘What are you talking about?’
‘Jessie!’ exclaimed Carol. ‘That’s not the way I wanted to do it!’
‘Sorry,’ muttered Jessica, almost in tears of temper.
‘Hey, what does she mean by that crack?’ Gary demanded, staring at Carol. ‘What do you mean, that’s not the way you wanted to do it? Do what?’
Carol took her ring out of the back pocket of her jeans.
‘You didn’t even notice I wasn’t wearing it. Take your ring back, Gary, I don’t want it. I’m ending it,’ she said coolly.
‘You’re what?’ His voice rose.
‘Don’t yell at me, Gary. I’m ending it. It’s not what I want. You’re not what I want—’
‘Is this because I postponed the wedding? I thought you were being a bit cool,’ he demanded.
‘It’s just an accumulation of stuff, Gary. Postponing the wedding’s only a small part of it. The tip of the iceberg.’ Her voice was admirably steely and she was totally composed.
‘What else is there?’ he said aggressively.
‘This is neither the time nor the place. I’ve no intention of discussing our relationship and your deficiencies in the middle of the Shannon, if you don’t mind. As soon as we tie up, I’m out of here. I’m going back to Dublin.’
‘You can’t do that,’ he protested, stunned.
‘Watch me,’ she snarled.
‘Now look what you’ve done,’ Mike exclaimed in dismay as he watched Carol stalk below deck.
‘I haven’t done anything. She was going to break it off anyway, she told me earlier,’ Jessica exploded wrathfully, enraged at his attitude and lack of loyalty. ‘And you know something else? I’m going home too, I’ve had enough of you and this bloody cruise. Go and piss off.’ She disappeared down the hatch, leaving Mike and Gary staring at each other.
‘Have they got double dose PMT or something?’ Gary muttered, shaking his head in disbelief.
‘Don’t ask me! They’re women, aren’t they? You don’t need any more explanation than that,’ Mike snapped, browned off at the turn of events.
‘Do you think we should call them up to do the ropes?’ Gary asked, as the lock gates creaked slowly open what seemed like an eternity later.
‘You can risk it if you want. I’m keeping the head down,’ Mike muttered as he started up the engine.
‘Yeah, maybe they’ll have cooled down by the time we’ve tied up over there.’
‘You’re being a bit optimistic, aren’t you, mate?’ Mike replied as he steered slowly out of the lock and headed across the river to tie up at the quays opposite.
‘We could always just carry on going, and not tie up at all? Lough Ree takes a couple of hours to cross. They might have come to their senses by then,’ Gary said slowly.
‘Are you crazy? Jessie’d go berserk. She’s really mad with me as it is. I should have been a bit more diplomatic about taking over, I suppose. She’s got a fierce temper when she’s riled. Which isn’t that often, thank God.’
‘I’ve never seen her as mad as that. Her eyes were spitting fire. I thought she was going to clatter you. Carol was completely the opposite, all cool and snooty. You can’t fight with her properly – she just goes all cold and icy. She’s some nerve giving me my ring back. I might keep it if she’s not careful,’ he said sulkily. ‘That would really call her bluff.’
‘I wouldn’t say anything about bluffing if I were you, not unless you want to end up in the drink,’ Mike advised drily.
‘I need a drink.’ Gary scowled as he picked up the rope and prepared to jump quayside.
Down in the double cabin, Jessica stuffed her clothes into her bag. She was damned if she was staying on the boat with that pair of male chauvinists. Mike had treated her like a child, an imbecile, and she wasn’t having it. He’d want to learn a bit of respect.
She wondered if Carol was annoyed with her. She shouldn’t have said what she’d said. She was so mad at Mike, and Gary had seriously got to her with his smart-arsed comments, that it had just come blurting out of her. Now she wished she’d kept her mouth shut. Carol had a right to be
irked with her, she thought gloomily as she slipped out of her cabin and made her way through the lounge. They were still chugging along the river, although she could see the quayside looming closer.
‘Carol,’ she said hesitantly, knocking on the other girl’s door. ‘Carol?’
The door opened and her friend stood there, bag packed, make-up on, jacket over her shoulder.
‘Carol, I’m really sorry, I was just so angry—’
‘Forget it, Jessie, I would have probably done the same myself. Just who do that pair think they are, treating us like idiots? We soon wiped the smirks of their faces, didn’t we?’ she said viciously. ‘Are you really coming home?’
‘You bet I am.’ Jessica was grim-faced.
‘What about the car?’
‘Bloody hell, I forgot about that.’
‘We could rob the kitty and get a taxi back to Banagher,’ Carol said slowly.
Jessica gazed at her friend in admiration. ‘Good thinking. Anyway, they’d only spend it on getting pissed otherwise, so we’re helping them as well as helping ourselves.’ She stepped up into the galley and took out the kitty bowl. ‘How much?’
‘All of it!’ Carol said firmly. ‘Let’s treat ourselves to a nice nosh-up on the way home.’
A bump and a throttling back of the engine noise told them they were at the quayside. They bumped against the wall again, the boat rocking unsteadily. ‘Not a perfect mooring by any manner or means. Captain Bligh is losing his touch,’ Jessica said acerbically.
Carol laughed in spite of herself. ‘You should have seen his face when you let fly. He was flabbergasted.’
‘I should think so,’ Jessica retorted. ‘How dare he treat me like that? He’d better cop on to himself.’ The engine stopped.
‘Ready?’ Carol looked her straight in the eye.
Jessica took a deep breath. ‘Yep. I’ll just get my bag.’
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