Dot and Sam 9

Dorothy Philpot. Landlady of The Harbour Light pub
Sam Philpot. Drag-queen.
Billy Parkins Doorkeeper.
Jessica Merlot The town’ and county archaeologist.
Josephine MacDonald The town and county archivist.
Richard Drummond Town planning inspector
Robert Vincent. Junior planning inspector.
Georgina. (Georgie) Homeless Transgender girl.
Bobby Gay boy on the school bus.
Marty Girl on the school bus.
Jack. Marty’s twin brother (Keen runner).

In the Chemistry lab that morning, the teacher eyed Jack and Georgie setting up the experiment and she arched her eyebrows in puzzlement.

“Am I to presume that you have resolved your issues?”

Jack nodded his head while Georgie murmured a soft ‘yes’, almost akin to a whisper. Their subdued reticence gave a clear message to the teacher who responded with similarly subdued whisper.

“Might I suggest that you move your apparatus to the front bench. You’ll be more visible to me and other pupils to witness any issues if things become unstuck between you.”

They both saw the sense in the teacher’s suggestion and silently re-arranged their apparatus where the teacher directed. The lesson then progressed satisfactorily and at the end, the teacher checked all the pupil’s results and nodded with quiet satisfaction. It appeared she had a diligent class who took their subject seriously. She was doubly pleased that the ‘problem pair’ appeared to be working properly together and had indeed produced the most successful experiment. As the class was preparing to leave, she quietly congratulated them out of earshot of the rest of the class.

“Well done you two. That’s a good set of results; keep it up and thank you.”

Jack nodded respectfully to her and prepared to take his leave but Georgie responded more actively by asking.

“Why are you thanking us Miss?”

“Because I don’t want any problems in my class. Last year’s class were a nightmare, so if you two continue to work together as well as you did today, it will serve as an example to the rest of the class.”

Jack had paused to hear the teacher’s response and he sighed very slightly as he repeated his silent respectful nod and started to leave as he reflected.

‘At least he had managed to get through the morning unscathed.’

Georgie once again repeated “Thank you Miss.” Then left whilst keeping her distance from Jack.

In the crowded locker area she lost sight of Jack and did not see him until the afternoon maths session. In the interim, she met Marty in the dining hall.

“How did it go?” Marty asked.

“Okay, Miss Peabody was happy with our work and said so.”

“Where’s Jack?” She asked searching the faces in the dining hall.

“Dunn’o. I’ve got to go and see the head at twelve fifteen, so see you later.”

“Please go easy on my brother.”

“If he continues to behave like he did this morning, then things’ ll be fine.”

“Is that what you’re telling the head?”

“Yes. Now I’ve gorra’ go. See you on the bus.”

Marty watched Georgie pick her way amongst the tables and then she smiled inwardly with relief.

On the bus home Georgie was relieved to see that Jack had apparently resumed his usual running routine and she enjoyed an un-interrupted chat with Marty.

“It’s all settled with the head. Things can carry on provided Jack continues to behave himself.”

“Oh believe me he will,” Marty frowned, “dad gave him a real roasting. By the way, I’ll be cycling down later to see how the boat’s going. My history teacher’s given me a list of things to sort out with that archaeologist.”

“See you later then. I’ll be busy with homework until dinner so just visit the site and speak directly to her. Phone her though, to make sure she’s on site.”

Georgie watched Marty disembark the bus then gave her a little ‘finger-wiggle’ and a smile as the bus pulled off.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In her bedroom at the Harbour Light, Georgie got stuck into her homework and by six she was out visiting the excavated site. There was no sign of Marty and everybody had left the site, so Georgie presumed Marty might be in the stables looking at any new artefacts. There she was happy to find Marty chatting to the chemist about the contents of the amphoras.

“Yes.” He explained to Georgie when she asked as Marty was inspecting the recovered samples. “ They’re mostly vegetable dyes from the seventeenth century. They give us a nice tie-in to the early development of aniline dies. We’ve dated these dyes from about the eighteen-twenties, so the canal must have been operational around eighteen-twenty. That’s a little later than we originally thought. Josephine, the county Archivist found some writing on one of the amphoras and she’s going through county archives to see if there’s any connections. She’s very excited about the find.”

“This is fabulous material for my dissertation!” Marty enthused, “cos the amphoras have got maker’s marks imprinted on the base.”

Georgie smiled at Marty’s enthusiasm and she stayed assisting both the chemist and Marty with their endeavours until Dot called through the newly opened doorway to the pub.

“Dinner’s ready! Tell your friends to clean up and they can share if they want.”

Both Marty and the Chemist needed no extra encouragement and the evening meal quickly became an excited discussion around Dot’s kitchen table.

“Will we be able to keep samples of the dyes.” Dot asked the Chemist.

“I can’t see why not, once we’ve established the degree of toxicity of them.” The chemist opined. “There’s plenty of it.”

“They would make an interesting display for the pub. Telling the history of the canal and stuff. Each sample in a labelled bottle in a cabinet with the light behind them and a description of events.. We intend to make this part of the pub something of a historical record of the basin so any historical artefacts are very much appreciated.”

“While you girls were at school today, there was a team examining the barge. They’re thinking of preserving it.” Sam added.

“Where?” Georgie asked.

“It’s not been decided yet. That’ll be the factor that makes or breaks the preservation issue. Jessie says the boat was not like a conventional narrow-boat. It has seagoing qualities and Josie is keen to find out where it traded to.”

“The old whare-house across the carpark entrance would be a good museum space.” Dot suggested. “There’s space enough for the boat to be stored, and a large exhibition window opening out to the old dock across the road would attract visitors. There’s plenty of parking where the old sand-boats used to tie-up.”

The meal ended on a high, hopeful note and Marty road home full of ideas for her dissertation. In her bedroom that Night, Georgie thought she might have found a connection to her biological father but she was too tired to pursue it further that night and the moment her head hit the pillow she was out like a light. The next day in school, Marty approached her to keep quiet about the events in the tidal basin. Apparently several other girls were still looking for dissertation projects and Marty didn’t want them invading her territory. Georgie secretly felt that there were several different aspects of the excavations that could provide several girls with alternative materials for different research subjects but she complied with Marty’s beseechments and stayed silent.

For the next two days, Marty had other homework to complete and she didn’t re-visit the dig until the Thursday. Georgie found her once again in the stable studying the most recent artifacts. At the dinner table, Dot brought them up to date about preserving the boat.

“They’ve agreed that the other warehouse is the best location to display the boat and they’re crowd-funding to raise the money.”

“Will the boat fit?” Georgie wondered.

“They hope to build a glass end facing the old dock that will also provide more light to study the hull. That way the old frontage facing the Basin will preserve the Victorian ambience of the Basin. They’ve also confirmed that the raised bow and stern point clearly to it having been a sea-going boat, but a very small one. Strictly coastal trading.”

“Where d’ you get all this info Dot?” Marty asked.

“They have lunch every day here in the pub. I chat with them while I serve their food.”

“When are they lifting it out?” Georgie asked.

“They’re leaving it in the mud for now and even burying it until the museum display area is built. Then they have to preserve the hull. Fortunately it’s only fifty odd feet long so there’s no big expensive palaver like the Mary Rose.”

“So let’s get cracking with the crowd funding.” Marty enthused.

At this juncture, Georgie saw a way to expand her circle of friends while not antagonising Marty’s friendship.

“D’ you know, Marty, if you told your classmates about the dissertation opportunities surrounding this boat you could get more people organising some crowd funding. There’s plenty of historical material and geographical stuff to supply several good dissertations.”

Marty’s eyes narrowed defensively as she demanded.

“Like what?”

“Oh come on. The unusual structure of a specialist boat, the chemical cargoes and the history of dyes, the local trade routes she might have plied, the history of the canal and the basin, the trades and materials that the basin handled, the archaeological excavations, the old whare-houses and their gable cranes across the basin: the list just goes on and on.”

“Hmm. I see your point,” Marty conceded.

“What’s more,” Georgie added, “you’ve got direct contact with the professionals researching the site and any material you gather can be shared around to each student doing different aspects of the history. It’s great opportunity to bring your friends together and I know there’s been some back-biting in your class.”

“Yeah, that’s true,” Marty confirmed. “There’s a couple of nasty pieces of work lording it over the rest of the class because they’ve got access to good stuff through their parents and relatives.

“Well if you get organised with your class friends, I’ll chat with Joe and Jessie about visiting the site.”

“If you need a place to hold discussion groups on site, you can borrow one of the spare bedrooms upstairs. No mud mind!” Dot offered.

The next night was Friday and Georgie was amused to see Marty’s classmates hanging around outside the pub. They were obviously curious about the locally famous drag shows so Georgie approached Sam.

“They can sit at the outside tables and spy through the open doors where we will serve them soft drinks but they are not allowed inside the bars. That’s the law, okay! I’m sure the drag queens will sit outside during their breaks, so if any of Marty’s friends want to ask them anything, they can do so during the girl’s breaks.”

Georgie related the news to the girls who eagerly crossed the threshold into the pub forecourt and grabbed spaces on the low flat-topped boundary wall where they could peer into the bar and just see the stage through the wide double doors that were pulled back to cool the bar. When Georgie next emerged with a tray full of soft drinks and pops, the girls eyes Georgie enviously.

“How come you get to see it all?”

“I live and work here and I have to earn my corn.”

This comment alone set the girls wondering as they watched Georgie busily serving customers and collecting glasses.

“But you’re the same age as us, seventeen.”

“Yes, but I’m working here and I live here. Provided Dot or Sam or Chef or Peggy the senior waitress is here, I’m legally supervised. Besides, I don’t drink and they can trust me.”

“You live in the wildest pub in the town but you don’t drink!?” Marty gaped.

Georgie just shrugged. “Yeah; crazy huh?” Then she disappeared to pop up behind the bar and start serving drinks. The girls just gazed enviously and fell to dividing up the items of interest for their separate dissertations.

Later some of the girl’s parents appeared and felt compelled to stay and watch the remains of the Friday drag show before collecting their still sober daughters. Eventually they drifted home in dribs and drabs as Georgie helped to close up while bidding ‘good-morning’ to Marty and her amused parents who were amongst the last to leave. The drag show had been a good one that night and Sam had excelled herself with her acerbic wit.

On the Saturday, Georgie was too busy with the restaurant lunches followed by the Saturday drag show which again extended into the mid-morning. Despite only getting to bed at six a.m., Georgie faithfully appeared at Noon on the Saturday and worked at the tables. After a brief nap early on Saturday evening, she put in a second appearance for the Saturday drag sow.
On Sunday however, she slept in. Dot and Sam allowed her that privilege when the Saturday night drag shows had been hectic; and that particular, previous show had. At noon on the Sunday, some of Marty’s classmates returned with their parents after having been so entertained by the drag artists. They sat down to a Sunday lunch and Marty asked the waitress where Georgie was.

“Probably still sleeping, she was still closing up at six.”

“Will she be putting in an appearance?” Marty asked.

“Not working,” the waitress explained, “Dot insists she gets a full day’s rest before school on Mondays.

Slightly disappointed, Marty’s family and their friends settled down to their Sunday lunch but it was their lively chatter that alerted Georgie as she slowly woke at one p.m.

“Why didn’t you tell me Mum?” Georgie protested as she frantically combed her hair.

“You needed your sleep girl; besides, you told me you’ve got a lot of homework this weekend.”

“Nothing I can’t handle.” Georgie riposted dismissively as she left their kitchen and stepped out into the restaurant.”

“Aah! Here she is, Rip-van Winkle’s daughter.” Marty cheered as Georgie pulled up an extra chair and poured herself some coffee.

“So you’ve finally surfaced then?” Jack hazarded as he cautiously tried to resume some sort of contact with the attractive Georgie.

Georgie squinted grumpily just like any teenager disturbed from her sleep but she said nothing and Marty moved to fill the embarrassing void.

“We were hoping to show our mums and dads what the excavations have produced. A sort of preview of Dot’s museum.”

“That can work, I’ll ask Dot.”

She left to return moments later with permission and the group finished their coffees to enjoy a guided tour.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~