Dead and Alive Read Online Free PDF Page A

down to the beach and waded out to us. Several trippers were gathered on the rocks watching us. “What the hell’s the barge for?” he asked, as he climbed on board, his slacks dripping water. Then he saw what was in the barge and his eyes lighted. “Where did you get it?”
    “Naval Dockyards,” I said. “It’s on loan.”
    He jumped down into the boat and wrung my hand. He was as thrilled as I’ve ever seen a man. “Partner,”he said, “I see you know your way around.” He jumped on to the barge and ran his eyes over the contents. Then he looked down at us. “There appears to be some hard work ahead of us. I suggest a drink. I’ve scrounged a couple of bottles of Haig from the local whilst you’ve been away.”
    By two o’clock the barge was high and dry and we got to work. We rigged two of the girders upright in the sand against the side of the barge and lashed a light cross girder to them. It was then that I first realised what a help the odd tripper could be, for the girders were very heavy and the holiday makers proved only too anxious to show how strong they were. A pulley attached to the cross girder lifted the winches clear of the barge and then with a rope we pulled the whole lot over on to the sand. It took us three hours to empty the barge by this primitive method and another two hours to stow the gear clear of the tide. Smaller items such as wooden rollers, tools, locking bolts and so on that I had included we stowed on board. Slater, bless his soul, had thrown in some tins of grease, one drum of lubricating oil and five of diesel oil. Particularly I appreciated the diesel oil since it showed that he was confident that we would in fact get off.
    The question of food cropped up during the stowing as we had nothing but some pasties and a jar of cider that Mrs. Garth had thoughtfully stowed in the motor boat. A young man who had been helping us in no uncertain fashion whilst his girl friend slept in the sun on a nearby rock said, “Look, if you’d care to invite us to supper with you, I’ll press-gang that good-for-nothing woman over there who happens to be my fiancée into doing some cooking.”
    So Stuart introduced her to the galley and the larder, and by the time we were through she had a hot meal ready for us. I don’t remember her surname. To us she was always just Anne. Her fiancé’s name was Bill Trevor. They came down and gave us a hand quite often after that first evening and for some strange reason thingsalways seemed to go better when Anne was around so that we came to regard her as our mascot.
    After dinner we sat on the bridge drinking and singing snatches of old songs to an accordion which Stuart played, whilst the tide crept darkly up the cove. Old Garth’s boat was floating shortly after eleven, just as the moon began to rise and fill the whispering cliffs with strange shadows. The old man had heard that Bill and Anne were staying at Boscastle and offered to take them in the boat. They were so keen on the idea of going back by sea in the moonlight that Bill gave me the keys of his car and asked me to park it at the farm for the night and drive over for them in the morning. I readily fell in with the idea since it would mean transport for my luggage to Bossiney. I knew that the job I’d undertaken was one that I’d got to live with.
    Down on the beach I took Garth aside to settle for the hire of the boat. But when I spoke to him of it, he shook his head angrily, “Man,” he said, “I’ve enjoyed the day. Thee’s given me a change and that’s as good as a holiday. I’m my own master. You’ll not be spoiling it by offering me money.” He gripped my elbow in a hard hand. “An’ if thee’s in difficulties and need men to give thee a hand, come and see me. There’s plenty of us over at Boscastle who’d come for the fun of it. We’re men of the sea and if it’s a question of putting a boat in the water there’s few of us won’t give a hand.”
    There was nothing