Moon Song Read Online Free PDF Page A

curve of the Earth, the edge of the world. It had been a long, long time since she’d seen it. It took her breath away.
    They stood at the edge of the water.
    ‘I don’t have things like this in London,’ she told him. ‘Got to drive for a couple of hours to do this and, even then, it’s not the same.’ She was thinking of Brighton, Hastings or Winchelsea.
    Darshan looked down at her. ‘No,’ he said, ‘it isn’t.’
    They walked the length of the beach, then went back to the car. He drove back up the river to Topsham, Exeter’s ancient, historic estuary town. She loved the narrow, twisting streets that followed the old medieval tumbled shapes of the buildings in Fore Street.
    Darshan stopped beside a large hotel. ‘It’s an old pub, dates back to the 1700’s’ he told her as he led her into The Globe. ‘The place used to be an inn, does a wonderful selection of home cooked, local food.’
    Isoldé looked about her. There were some tourists along with the locals in the small bar by the entrance.
    ‘I recommend the Doom Bar,’ Darshan said, grinning at her astonished stare. ‘It’s a rare good beer from Sharps Brewery down in Cornwall, you’ll like it.’
    ‘You lose me on all these beer names.’ Isoldé laughed.
    The landlord set a half in front of her.
    ‘Try that,’ he said. ‘Are you eating tonight, Darshan? We’ve got some fresh sea bass or the Topsham Smokies?’
    Darshan looked at Isoldé.
    ‘What,’ she asked, ‘is a Topsham Smokie?’
    ‘It’s
the
special local dish.’ Darshan was enjoying her confusion.
    ‘OK. Why not?’ she said. ‘I’m hungry after all that walking and sea air so I’d better eat the local speciality. I’ve got the appetite for it.’ She laughed.
    ‘Topsham Smokies twice then, please,’ Darshan said demurely.
    ‘Right you are.’ The landlord smiled encouragingly to her as he took the order.
    ‘You know this reprobate then?’ Isoldé turned to him.
    ‘Aye, he’s here of an evening, now and again. Murders the locals at dominos!’
    ‘You do?’ Isoldé’s eyebrows scaled her hairline. The weekend was revealing facets of Darshan she’d never even suspected when they were together in Town.
    He rolled his eyes and picked up their glasses.
    ‘Enjoy the beer. I’ll show you to a table.’ The landlord led them through the sitting bar into a large, oak-panelled dining room.
    ‘The folk club starts up in about an hour, you want to be here for that?’
    ‘Of course,’ Darshan told him. ‘It’s why we’ve come.’
    Isoldé nodded but her expression was abstracted. ‘You really play dominos …?’ She was dubious.
    ‘I do. I’ve found bits of myself here that had no place when I lived in Town. There’s lots of culture and not just the snottynosed kind you mostly get in London. You wait ‘til you hear the singers and musicians tonight.’
    After the folk club was over they walked down to the old harbour quay.
    ‘It’s good here,’ Darshan told her. ‘I’ve settled in. Interesting, good people and loads of history. For instance, did you know TedHughes lived here for a while,’ he pointed to a tumble-roofed cottage at the back of the quay. He knew Hughes was one of her favourite poets. Her eyes widened.
    ‘And he lived on a farm up on Dartmoor, too,’ he added. ‘They’ve put up a stone to him on his favourite bit of the moor.’
    ‘Can you walk up there?’
    ‘Bit of a hike but you’ll soon be fit enough.’ There was a wicked expression in Darshan’s eyes.
    ‘You’re assuming I’m coming …’
    ‘Well, you are, aren’t you?’
    Isoldé’s mouth twisted into a grin, ‘Yes,’ she said. ‘I am.’
    Driving back to London was strange, as though she was leaving home on leaving Exeter rather than returning to it in London. What would Mickey say? He knew her very well, likely he would understand. Mick was from a farming hamlet up by the Giant’s Causeway, not a Belfast man by birth, although he’d lived there for ten years before