‘What woman? What are you talking about?’

  ‘She’s been here, on the boat. I couldn’t place her accent but it’s New Zealand. That must Gwen – Isla’s mum and Martha’s daughter.’

  ‘Ah, so the headscarf is a disguise in case Martha clocks she’s back before the big reunion. That’s a massive secret to keep. Good job it’s not for much longer,’ added Nolan.

  Bea turned around and looked at the painting of Morgan and Patsy. ‘Call it a hunch but I think Hemingway and Fernsby are back on the case.’

  ‘You’re talking in riddles. Spit it out,’ encouraged Nolan, intrigued.

  ‘Last night, I saw Gwen arrive at the B&B and she seemed familiar but I couldn’t figure out why.’ Bea walked over to the painting. ‘She’s been on the boat and asking questions about this painting and I see now that the reason she looks so familiar is because she looks like Patsy … and I don’t mean just looks like her, she could be her.’

  ‘She can’t be the woman in the painting, she’s way too young.’

  ‘I know, so think about it.’ Bea looked back at Gwen and Isla, who were walking down the jetty and about to get a river taxi. ‘Call yourself a detective? I think the woman in the painting is Martha.’

  ‘But that’s Patsy,’ Nolan said, gesturing towards the painting.

  Bea took out her phone and searched Google, then passed the phone to Nolan.

  He read, ‘“The name Martha is biblical. First popular in France, then after the Reformation, in England. There, it evolved, being shortened to Matty as well as Patty. American colonists then transformed it further into Patsy.” It’s not that much shorter,’ he remarked, ‘just one letter, but anyway, you really think this is Martha?’ He stared at the painting.

  ‘Yes, I do and I think Gwen recognised her mother too. The question is – what are you going to do about it?’ asked Bea.

  ‘There’s only one thing to do, ask her.’

  After a day of selling paintings, Bea was sitting in The Little Blue Boathouse preparing for her meeting. People were due to start arriving at 7pm so for the next hour she would be full steam ahead.

  Felicity and Rona would be arriving with refreshments any time soon and Julia and Flynn were bringing chairs from the conference room at Starcross Manor. Bea wondered how everyone was going to fit inside the Boathouse but Nolan had pointed out that since it was such a glorious warm night, they could set up the chairs outside, which was a perfect solution.

  Bea rehearsed over and over again what she was going to say at the meeting. After the conversation with Felicity, she felt a renewed sense of strength. If she could get the villagers on board with her idea, Heartcross would be a safer place for everyone. She knew it was all about the number of volunteers and the money they could raise to get the project up and running, but surely that would be doable with the likes of Flynn and celebrity chef Andrew Glossop living in the village. With the power of social media and the local press, surely they would be able to create awareness? All she could do for now was hope.

  Hearing an engine sputter to a stop, she walked outside to see Julia waving at her through her van window. As soon as Julia jumped out of the van, she exclaimed, ‘No crutches!’

  ‘I know! It feels okay at the moment,’ replied Bea, looking down at her ankle.

  ‘We have the chairs,’ said Flynn, opening up the back of the van.

  ‘Perfect. Nolan has suggested we have the meeting outside, on the other side of the Boathouse.’

  ‘Brilliant idea. Also, we thought this might come in handy.’ He handed her a battery-operated microphone.

  ‘Thanks, I think.’

  ‘You’ll be great. I’m looking forward to hearing what you have to say.’ Flynn began passing the chairs to Nolan and Julia, who lined them up in rows facing the river. Flynn hammered a sign into the ground outside the entrance with an arrow directing the residents to the far side of the Boathouse, whilst Bea stood in front of the chairs, imagining the sea of faces that would be looking back at her in around an hour’s time. Her heart began beating nineteen to the dozen.

  Nolan appeared at her side and smiled warmly at her. ‘You’ve got this. What you have to say is important and once you get in your stride, the nerves will disappear.’

  ‘I hope so,’ she said, placing the microphone down on a small trestle table that Julia had put in front of the rows of chairs, along with a jug of water and a glass.

  ‘Shall we set up the tea, coffee and refreshments outside too?’ asked Flynn, looking towards Bea and Julia. ‘It might make it easier?’

  They both nodded and Flynn and Nolan disappeared inside to bring out the aluminium urns.

  ‘Here’s Felicity and Rona now.’

  They appeared around the corner carrying a basket of cups and saucers, which were soon laid out on another table at the side of the Boathouse, followed by assorted refreshments.

  ‘I can’t thank you all enough,’ said Bea, overwhelmed by the effort that everyone had put in for her. She checked her watch and looked up the river path. Already there were villagers walking towards them.

  ‘I’m actually feeling a little nervous,’ Bea confided to Julia.

  ‘You’ll be great. It looks like it’s going to be a fantastic turnout too.’

  ‘You’ve got this,’ encouraged Nolan, taking a seat next to Flynn.

  ‘Let me point a few people out to you,’ said Julia. ‘Second row, we have Grace and Andrew. They live in Heartcross Castle.’

  Immediately, Bea recognised the celebrity chef.

  ‘Then we have Allie and Rory. Allie’s parents own the pub, the Grouse and Haggis – they are Fraser and Meredith, sat over there. Rory is the local vet, along with Mollie, who is married to Cam, who owns The Old Bakehouse.’

  ‘Woah! This is an overload of information.’

  Julia grinned. ‘Eleni, my assistant at the B&B, she goes out with Jack, the local builder. Then we have Ella and Roman, Callie and Gianni. Dolores and Hamish, from the village shop, et cetera. But here is a useful contact for you – come and say hello. This is Aidy Redfern, the local reporter. He worked with Felicity to support her fundraising for the bridge, and his articles and news reports helped to spread the word. Aidy, could I introduce you to Bea.’

  Bea smiled and extended her hand. ‘Pleased to meet you.’

  ‘You too. I think what you’re suggesting here is commendable and I’m really looking forward to hearing what you have to say. And if we can help at all through the news channels and the newspaper, I’m all for that.’

  This was music to Bea’s ears and she couldn’t thank Aidy enough.

  Everyone smiled in her direction and a quick check of her watch told her it was 7.30pm Bea exhaled. This was it.

  As soon as she stepped to the side of the table and picked up the microphone the babble of voices in front of her died down. She noticed Emmie slip into a seat in the back row and give her a thumbs-up. Bea gave her a nervous smile. Trying to steady her hand, Bea switched on the microphone and brought it up to her mouth.

  She dared a glance towards Nolan, who responded with a reassuring smile, giving Bea the confidence to take the plunge.

  ‘Thank you all for coming,’ Bea said, looking around at the community and acknowledging everyone with a nod of her head. ‘I’ve invited you all here to talk about the river and our safety. Water is unpredictable. For some, the River Heart is a playground, for others it’s a means of making a living. People travel here to Heartcross to enjoy your welcoming community and the spectacular scenery, but also the River Heart itself.’ Bea stretched out her arm and turned towards the river. Thankfully, her nerves were slowly disappearing. ‘In the summer months you welcome a colossal number of tourists to this area, so many that I’ve found myself wondering, how on earth does this small village fit that many people in it?’ The crowd laughed. ‘With the number of people that visit Heartcross, I assumed when I arrived that there would already be some sort of river rescue in place. There’s no doubt it’s needed. In the short time I’ve been here I’ve seen paddleboarders struggling to get back on their board, swimmers in difficulty and kayaks capsizing. It’s so easy to go from having the time of your life to being in mortal danger – in a matter of moments.’ Bea took a breath followed by a sip of water.

  ‘What I’m proposing is a volunteer family of community members ready to give up some of their time to helping save the lives of others. I know Heartcross is a passionate community and I know I’ve only been here a very short time but I hope you think this is as important as I do.’ Bea turned towards Julia, who placed a large flipchart stand next to her and mounted a couple of large photographs on it. ‘To begin with, we would need two boats: one all-weather boat, and a fast response boat. We would also need pagers, and another piece of kit that is essential is a drone, which can be sent up in the air to help identify any danger. We would need one volunteer watching the river at all times, and the rest of the crew would be alerted by the pagers. When those pagers go off, the volunteers would need to be prepared for absolutely anything. But saving someone’s life is phenomenal. There is nothing more rewarding.’ Bea could see the whole community nodding in agreement with her.

  ‘I know you’re all extremely busy – you have families and businesses to run and it’s a lot to ask you to commit on a regular basis, but that is what I am asking you to do. It will take time and money to build a team of lifesavers, give them the necessary training, obtain boats and the kit – not to mention build a small headquarters, for which of course we’ll need planning permission. Establishing and building a river rescue will take time but I’m hoping you will all get on board this project. I want to support the community as best I can and it’s my belief that if we can all work together we can make this dream a reality.’ Bea took a breath and realised what she’d just said. She wanted to stay in Heartcross and see this project through to the end – and she’d just told the entire community.

  ‘I think I’ve done enough talking so I’ll invite anyone to speak who has anything to add, or any suggestions or questions about how we can carry this forward.’ Bea picked up her glass of water and began to panic when everyone stood up at the same time, as if they were about to leave. She looked towards Nolan, who was standing next to Julia and Flynn. All of them were smiling broadly. Nolan began to clap, then, to Bea’s surprise, the rest of the community followed suit and she was surrounded my rapturous applause. They weren’t leaving – it was a standing ovation. Overcome with emotion, Bea’s eyes welled up with happy tears. She’d never in her life felt such a sense of belonging. This meant so much to her. Emmie was also up on her feet, clapping and nodding at her. Julia stood up, hugged Bea where she stood, and took the microphone.

  ‘Bea has only been here for a very short time but the second I met her she gave out such warmth that I knew she was going to be an asset to this community. She was the person who raised the alarm when Lucas went missing and didn’t hesitate to go clambering over rocks in stormy weather to help rescue the little boy. I think this is a wonderful idea; it’s what we need to make our water safer, and, like Bea said, if we work together, I’m sure we can make it work. Now, back to Bea.’

  ‘Does anyone have any questions?’ asked Bea.

  ‘The boats, the kit and a rescue building will cost phenomenal amounts, surely?’ shouted Hamish, who was sitting at the back.

  ‘Yes, it will be very costly, but surely we can draw on our resources in the village, and businesses in Glensheil too. We have influential businessmen living in this village…’ Bea looked towards Flynn and Andrew Glossop. ‘I’m sure they’ll have great contacts and perhaps even ideas about sponsorship.’ Bea was hopeful she hadn’t overstepped but both Flynn and Andrew were nodding. ‘We also have builders amongst us. Would there be any chance of putting up a small building to house the boats and the kit? Right here, where you’re sitting now, could be the perfect space – an extension to The Little Blue Boathouse.’

  Eleni nudged Jack, who shouted to Bea, ‘I’m sure my company can help out but we need planning permission.’

  ‘I can take care of that,’ offered Arthur, who worked at the council.

  ‘We can raise money for the kit, pagers and the drones but what we also need is a person watching the river at all times. But that would need to be from quite a high building. I was thinking about the lighthouse, but is that too far away?’

  ‘Possibly,’ shouted out Flynn. ‘But we’ve installed new security cameras at the hotel and they are brilliant. They’re attached to a very tall mast and you can swivel them to survey all areas. It’s operated from a TV monitor in the office and you can flick between different areas. Maybe something like that could be set up?’

  ‘This sounds perfect,’ enthused Bea, happy to see that all the villagers were getting involved. ‘I don’t mind taking care of the admin and the volunteer rotas and I can set up a system that we all have access to. This is going to take some organising and it won’t happen overnight, but we’ve already taken a step forward with this meeting.’ Bea bent down and pulled out a handful of paper from the bag at the side of the table. ‘If anyone would like to be a volunteer lifesaver, or can offer a donation or help to raise funds, help to buy the kit – help with anything, really – then can I please ask you to jot it down on one of these pieces of paper and give it to me, Nolan, Julia or Flynn? That will give us a starting point. I’ll then go through all the papers and devise a plan and get an update out to the community by the end of next week. I’ll also see about opening a bank account for any funds that are raised, and maybe we could set up a committee that could be in charge of finances. Would that be okay with everyone?’ There was so much to think about and this was a huge project to coordinate, but Bea was up for the challenge.

  Everyone nodded. Bea began passing out the paper along with some pens, and people began to scribble down ways that they could help. The community was enthusiastic and Bea felt that if they all worked together, they might be able to create the rescue service within the next eighteen months to two years.

  ‘Thank you all for coming. If anyone has any further ideas or suggestions then do let me know. In the meantime, please help yourself to refreshments. I propose we hold another meeting in four weeks’ time, for an update.’

  The crowd was nodding and Bea felt proud of her efforts as she stepped away from the table. Emmie walked towards her with her arms open wide. ‘Bea, you were brilliant!’

  ‘Thank you,’ replied Bea. ‘In a funny sort of way, I was enjoying myself.’

  ‘This is a worthwhile cause and if anyone can get this up and running, it’s you.’ Emmie took hold of both of Bea’s hands. ‘I’ve never seen this side of you before. Standing up there … you were full of passion. There’s something different about you that I can’t quite put my finger on.’

  ‘I’m happy. I feel comfortable and I can just be me here. I know you’re very fond of him, but Carl is not my future. He didn’t encourage my growth. He suppressed my personality. He never let me be me and never gave me the loyalty I deserve.’

  ‘I’m sorry, Bea. I feel like I’ve let you down. I should have realised that you were unhappy and I should have been a better sister.’

  ‘It’s okay, honestly it is.’

  ‘And what about Nolan?’

  Bea looked across at him. He was busy collecting the pieces of paper from the community. Every time she looked in his direction her stomach performed somersaults. He was her type of perfect but she knew she had to try and keep a little distance to protect her own heart. ‘Nolan will be moving on after the River Festival and I’ll miss him but I’ll always be grateful to him. He’s taught me how to laugh and enjoy life again.’

  Isla popped her head between them. ‘Sorry to interrupt but there’s a taxi for Emmie here.’

  ‘A taxi?’ questioned Bea, looking at Emmie, who pointed to her suitcase standing against the wall.

  ‘I’m heading home. I came because I needed to see for myself you’re okay, and you are. In fact, I think you already have this community eating out of your hands. I can see you’re happy here and I really don’t blame you if you want to stay.’

  Bea could see that Emmie was holding back the tears.

  Emmie continued. ‘It will be a good place to bring the children on holiday and we’ll look forward to seeing Heartcross Life Rescue up and running. And knowing that’s down to our Bea…? I’m very proud of you.’

  They hugged each other like their lives depended on it. ‘I’ll see you soon, I promise,’ whispered Emmie. ‘Take care of you.’

  Bea watched her sister wheel her suitcase to a taxi and climb into the back seat. She waved out of the window as the taxi drove away.

  ‘Are you okay?’ asked Isla, who was still standing next to her.

  ‘I will be,’ confirmed Bea, blinking back the tears.

  Isla passed her a tissue. ‘I always have a tissue handy, that’s one of the joys of being a mum.’

  ‘Thank you,’ said Bea, dabbing her eyes and taking a deep breath. She looked over her shoulder to make sure there was no one else in earshot. ‘And was that your mum that I saw you with today?’

  Isla’s smile was wide as they took a few steps to the water’s edge so they couldn’t be overheard. ‘It was, and it’s the first time she’s ever met her grandchildren. I’ve missed her so much. I know we FaceTime but it isn’t quite the same. She’s back for Mum’s special birthday but I’m not quite sure what my grandmother’s reaction will be. Believe it or not, they haven’t spoken for many years, after a family argument.’

  Feeling a tap on her shoulder, Bea looked round to see Nolan holding up the collected papers. ‘Firstly, you were amazing, and secondly, wait until you see all of these. I can’t see one villager that hasn’t volunteered in one way or another – there’s offers of financial help, ideas for fundraising… The whole community loved your speech and were singing your praises.’

  ‘This is absolutely brilliant.’

  ‘You smashed it out of the park!’