back to the cottage, then to the hardware store in Ryde, picking up supplies for the day’s work then working most of the day, till she collapsed, exhausted, with a bowl of soup on the sofa, listening to the radio. There was no TV in the cottage, and she spent her evenings either reading or sewing cushion covers with the radio on.
She’d joined the local library nearby, and struck up a little friendship with the librarian, Flora, who let her borrow more books than she was meant to. And she’d handed Maddie a flyer recently, one that had come down from the noticeboard. Part-time café assistant needed at the Shore Café. Mon, Weds and Fridays 10 a.m.–1 p.m.
‘My mate Sue works there, said they haven’t had anyone who’s any good – maybe you should go along? You’ve been scanning the job board for weeks.’
It was true. Maddie knew that she would have to work whilst she was there. She did have some money left from school; when she’d told them she was leaving, there had been a collection and a present of a few hundred pounds. But it wouldn’t last forever. And she wanted to save what Olive had left her for a rainy day. There may not have been any mortgage, but there were bills to pay.
*
She decided that day she would tackle the woodchip wallpaper in the living room. She was going to scrape it all off and repaint the walls underneath. She’d hired a steamer for the day and it had to be back later, so she needed to get through as much as she could.
The walls were dreadful. The wallpaper looked like porridge and she wanted to have smooth, lemony walls. Maddie put the steamer on and looked at all the tools she needed laid out on the table. A scraper, a wallpaper perforator, old cloths, and some newspaper on the floor.
She started on the largest wall, opposite the window. She rolled the perforator across the wall, applied a little pressure and could feel it puncturing the wall behind. Next, she placed the hissing steamer over the wall and started to slowly steam the wallpaper, then slide the scraper satisfyingly behind the wallpaper. Scrape, scrape, scrape. She yanked a huge piece of wallpaper off. What had Tim done? Why was the business in such a mess? Who was he with?
After about three hours she shrugged her aching shoulders and stood back. She was nearly done across two of the walls. All she needed to do was finish the final wall after lunch. She was proud of what she’d achieved.
She made herself a quick coffee but just as she was pouring in milk, there was a huge hissing noise and a loud bang. She ran into the lounge to see the steamer had exploded and water was spraying everywhere; she covered her face and quickly pulled the plug out from the socket. Bloody thing. She’d have to take the blasted thing back to the store.
She tied up her hair, pulled some woodchip shaving out of it, grabbed her coat, and lugged the machine outside and – with tremendous difficulty – into the boot of her car. The store was only about fifteen minutes away.
*
‘But it isn’t working. And I don’t want it to explode all over me!’
‘Madam, there is a safety mechanism that means that doesn’t happen.’
‘Well, clearly it has happened!’ This was exasperating. She knew she was raising her voice, but she was tired and a bit terrified it would happen again.
‘Is there a problem?’
It was the smell she recognised at first: sandalwood and the ocean. She spun around.
Greg was standing right behind her at the Customer Service Desk.
‘Yes, madam here clearly has a problem operating the machine,’ the assistant said.
‘I do not have a problem “operating the machine” as you put it!’ Maddie almost stamped her foot in frustration.
‘Clearly there’s a problem with the machine and if there are issues with the safety device, I’m sure you don’t want her to put up bad reviews on your website, nor have the company accused of issuing faulty equipment that might harm their customers? This island’s a small one and word gets around.’ Greg stood behind her talking to the spotty chap – Declan by the look of his ‘how can I help’ name badge.
Declan seemed thrown by this. ‘I need to speak to my manager. Wait here.’ And he walked off with a sniff.
Maddie didn’t quite know what to say. On the one hand she was