The Waffle House on the Pier - Tilly Tennant Page 0,28

desperate for a good punch-up.

‘Mummy… did Daddy just say—’

‘Yes, Freddie,’ Kat said, frowning at Ewan, who continued to glare at the man. ‘But he didn’t mean to; he’s just very upset.’

‘Sometimes I feel upset—’ Freddie continued, but Kat cut him off.

‘I expect you do,’ she said. ‘But you still shouldn’t say it. If someone almost dies, right in front of you, that’s the only time I’ll allow you to say it. Got it?’

Freddie looked disappointed but he didn’t argue. Instead he glanced at Sadie with that strangely inappropriate look of awe again. She supposed what had happened probably seemed rather dramatic and adventurous to him. He watched movies all the time, tales of derring-do and heroism where the protagonists had regular brushes with death, and it always looked glamorous and cool. She could have set him straight – that being hit by a boat and almost drowning left you feeling sick and a little bit stupid, rather than heroic – but she didn’t have the heart (or the stomach or concentration span) right now.

Sadie’s gaze went back to the man talking to Andy. Or rather, being given a firm telling-off by Andy.

‘I don’t think he’s a local, is he?’

‘Probably not,’ Kat agreed. ‘I certainly haven’t seen him around here before.’

‘When Andy’s finished I’m going to have a word myself,’ Ewan growled.

‘Don’t,’ Kat said. ‘If it’s anyone’s, this whole thing is my fault. I didn’t leave a marker buoy to warn people where we were—’

‘You’ve never had to in that stretch of the sea before,’ Ewan began to argue, but Kat put up a hand to stop him.

‘And I should have kept my wits about me. If I’d been out with paying customers I would have, but because it was Sadie I relaxed my guard and I shouldn’t have. By the time I realised he was there and which direction he was heading in it was too late.’ She shook her head. ‘Poor fella. He was properly shaken up – very upset about what had happened.’ She looked at Sadie. ‘He said he hadn’t seen either of us.’

‘Should have been looking then, shouldn’t he?’ Ewan said through gritted teeth.

‘Good thing it was a tiny boat,’ Sadie said.

‘It was still big enough to cause damage, and he has a responsibility to keep not only himself safe but others. He’s probably one of these idiots who’s never taken a boat out in his life and thinks all you do is hop in and float away.’

‘And he couldn’t have hit me head-on,’ Sadie continued, ignoring her brother’s tirade. ‘It would have done a lot more damage if he had.’

‘I think he did enough,’ Ewan said.

Sadie looked along the beach again. ‘What’s he doing with Andy – they’ve been ages.’

‘If I know Andy, he’s giving him a good ticking-off and a few pointers about safety at sea.’

‘Hmm. I feel kind of bad for him now.’

Kat looked at Sadie with a vague frown. ‘Why should you feel bad?’

‘Like you said, he couldn’t help that we just popped up out of nowhere. And Andy’s safety lectures…’ She gave a theatrical shudder that made Kat laugh lightly, despite the gravity of the situation. ‘I wouldn’t wish one of those on anyone.’

‘Perhaps he might know what he’s doing for next time,’ Ewan cut in. ‘People ought to get proper training; not just go on holiday and suddenly decide they’re expert mariners and take to the sea. I’d like to know where the boat came from – whether it’s his or he hired it. If he hired it I might well have to have a word with the company that let him take it out.’

‘I’m alright though, Ewan – no harm done.’

Ewan turned a critical eye on his sister. ‘Hardly,’ he said. ‘You wouldn’t say that if you could see you from where I’m standing.’

Sadie raised her eyebrows. ‘That bad?’

‘You’ve looked better,’ Kat agreed. ‘Sorry, but there it is.’

‘Well…’ Sadie shrugged. ‘I did say I fancied a dip. This isn’t quite what I had in mind though. And ow again!’ she added as an extra-large throb reminded her of the sizeable bruise on her head. Her headache wasn’t helped by the sudden wail of a siren, distant at first, but rapidly getting louder as it drew closer. Sadie looked at Ewan and Kat in turn. ‘Please tell me that’s not for me.’

‘Of course it is,’ Ewan said testily. ‘What else were we meant to do?’

‘You could have waited!’

‘For what? For you to die? “Oh, Kat, she’s dead now, do you