CHAPTER 71
There had been a moment or two through that evening where I had found real sustenance, especially as I had spent time sitting with Lexie and Lisa. ‘Not the only lesbian’, et cetera, was well past its sell-by date. Lexie picked up on one particular chuckle, so I tried to explain.

“Ah, it was a while back. Can’t remember if there was a guest on, but that woman you say is your friend, she was here with a load of girls”

I was watching them both for a reaction, to see how Alys would be received when she met them, and the first response was from Lexie.

“Oh, god, how many that time? Like an invading army, they can be”

“No idea. One girl had her Dad with her. He plays a decent guitar, and not a bad singer”

“Oh, you’ll have been swamped, then. I think that’s Alicia’s Dad”

“Sounds right. One of the girls actually got engaged that night”

“Oh! Tall girl? Boyfriend quite… chunky? Chunky. That’s a good word”

“That’s the pair”

“Gemma and Marty, then. She’s really sweet, and so are the things she bakes. Got loads of them while I was in hospital. Worried about getting fat, I was”

Lisa snorted.

“Yeah, and what sort of idea was it putting that helmet on the bedside table?”

Lexie shrugged in an extremely expansive way.

“Didn’t know if either of us had a temper, back then. Just taking reasonable precautions”

That was another theme that drove out my sleep that night, the assumptions. I wasn’t sitting with the two women as part of some sort of ghetto, for there was a sort of Brownian motion all evening that bounced people off each other as well as the bar and the little performance area. I had chatted with Diane and Jon, Sammy giving me several grins that were much happier than had been the case on their arrival, while Hywel just looked smug.

It was that assumption I had made, about Alys meeting them, and it had just felt so right, as well as inevitable. The first friends I had made in an absolutely adult way, not via school or university, or coming from my parents’ contacts. Would there be some odd ethical thing about customers? I had no idea, but so what?

Bloody placement year! I should have looked up options in Australia, but what did I know about that country’s outdoors?

That was a second night when sleep played hard to get.

They left us, in the end, with grins rather than grimaces, and once more I was finding a much deeper understanding of my new role in mental healthcare. Ross, Sue, Ricky and I waved them off together, Hywel emulating Lisa’s message of gratitude, but with a much firmer hug. I had pictures, of course, as well as a number of e-mail addresses, because so many others had seemed to feel the need to whisper little words of thanks to each of us, and I was particularly touched by the way Candice clung to Sue. A lesson in teamwork, as well as a reminder that there would always be things going on that I would miss.

Once the bus was out of sight, well on its way to Betws and beyond, Ross let out a long sigh.

“People, well done. That could have gone really badly, but, well. We were right not to push them for ‘full value’, I think. Now, we have another load in tomorrow, as you know, a public school this time, so be prepared for some idiocy. For now, cuppa. And a debrief for the three of you”

Sue looked surprised, and Ross shook his head.

“No, woman. These two need something for their course tutor. I need you for input and sneakiness”

She frowned.

“Sneakiness?”

“Well, finding the right buzzwords. Got to phrase these things the right way. Common room in ten minutes?”

That was another lesson in itself, for while I had deceived myself that I had been doing the driving in easing the group along, especially as I had taken the first contact, those things I had missed were indeed trotted out. As an example, I had missed how much time Sue and Ross had spent watching the wreckage of a blonde woman so that she didn’t end up literally wrecked in the canoe she had all but lived in.

A lesson in narrow and wide focus, and how to combine them, as well as the ‘why’ of teamwork. I also picked up on what simple experience could do.

We arrived at the appropriate words for what were effectively training logs over a variety of hot drinks, according to individual tastes, and once all boxes were ticked, we set to the other aspects of the job: stripping beds and replacing the sheets. Thank god the place used a commercial laundry service was a frequent thought. The school party sounded like it would be a pain, but as Ross would no doubt remine me, it was as much part of my role as leading beginners up rock.

Adult beginners, that is. They seemed more willing to shut up and listen, or at least shut up. I couldn’t guarantee their listening activity.

So it was that we spent some time running safety inspections of the various types of harness, and I had a little chuckle as a memory surfaced of Mike giving me a baby harness when I was a hell of a lot younger than the kids we were expecting, who were all supposed to be around twelve and on their first ‘real’ outdoors trip with the school. What fun clearly awaited us.

I managed to catch Alys that evening, on Skype at about eleven for me and what must have been seven or so for her. She was obviously eating breakfast as we chatted, and both Mike and Ish did some mugging into the camera before clearly leaving her in privacy.

I wanted to reach through the screen to her, but that was obviously impossible, so I just put a finger tip to the screen, expecting her to be able to match mine. Her camera, of course, gave a different position, but with some judicious fiddling of laptop angles, we finally arrived at a position where we were each seeing our fingers apparently touching. I missed her horribly just then, and after running through her latest adventures in sitting in a lab processing soil samples, I gave her a reasonably full account of our days with the police.

“I feel stupid, love! One of them, she was out on the water all day, every day, and I missed how bad she really was”

Alys’ smile was so gentle I could have wept.

“Not doing that again, then? Bit like what you told me about that day at school, when you did the assistant bit out at Tryfan Fach. Experience, isn’t it? That’s what you’re there for, after all”

“I suppose so… Look, I was down the club a couple of nights ago”

Deviltry took my tongue, and I added “With a couple of lesbians”. Alys simply raised one eyebrow.

“Did you show them a good time?”

She couldn’t keep a straight face, of course, the laughter bursting free after four or five seconds of control. I watched her eyes dance, and simply asked her the obvious question.

“You’re happy, aren’t you?”

“Oh god, yes! They’re all being wonderful to me, and the weather is, well, hotter than hot right now, but there are beaches, and the bird life is amazing! And the city is great, and…”

She ran out of steam, and smiles, simultaneously.

“But. Big but. You’re not here. That’s the biggest ‘but’ of all”

I tried to make a joke of it, about fat bottoms, but she simply waved a hand at me.

“No. Said what I said, meant what I said. Now, what about these lesbians?”

I was aching to hold her, but, well: Skype. At least I could see her.

“Was just a thought, love. They’re a couple, one of that load of police, and her girlfriend, and it was just so normal. I mean, there were one or two of the older locals gave them a bit of a stare, but it was the way their colleagues treated them. I mean, there were more stares at Jon and Rhys, cause they’re a gay man couple, and… Oh, I know what I mean. Just being normal, treated as normal, ah? Can you understand that, love?”

Another pause from her, another quirked smile before her reply.

“Funnily enough, given what I am, yes. I can understand that. You’re doing the ‘only gay in the village’ bit, aren’t you?”

“Sort of”

“Yes, well. Double for me, isn’t it?”

“I’m sorry, love”

“No need. Just keep saying that word, and I will manage. Got me this far, hasn’t it?”

“Yes, but all the way out there, what could I do if something goes wrong?”

Another slightly twisted smile.

“I wouldn’t be here, with all the wonderful birds and that, if it hadn’t been for you, my love. I couldn’t have come here at all without knowing you would be waiting there when I got back. Now…”

She looked away from the camera for yet another period of silence, before looking back ay me, a wrinkle between her eyes, almost a frown.

“That is the thing, love. All about you, where what I really mean is all about us. Now, things are on the way, moving, and that’s in good ways. Done more than two years of what they call the real life experience, I have, and that means… Enfys, my love, I’m on a list for surgery, and Mam has been putting together the stuff for my recognition certificate. Once that’s done, the gay bit can be out in the open. And I have thoughts. Blame Warren, but perhaps you could speak to your new lesbian friends about etiquette”

My stomach lurched.

“Alys, love… you’re asking… You are, aren’t you?”

She nodded.

“Don’t know how it works for lesbians. Don’t know which of us asks, so I am making a huge assumption here. Hang on…”

She picked a coin up from the table and held it up to the camera.

“Fifty cent piece, love. Big assumption, but I know I’m right. I’ve known that since that first late night phone call. I think I’ve known since that first comment about not liking willies, ah? So I am going to toss this coin, you call, and we go from there”

I couldn’t speak, so just nodded, and she tossed the coin, holding her hand over it when she had caught it.

“Heads or tails, love?”

“Um… Heads?”

She lifted one hand.

“Tails. Going to have to get off to work in five minutes, so I’ll make this a quick one”

She closed her eyes; several long breaths later, she opened them to stare straight at the camera.

“Enfys Hiatt: will you marry me? Please?”