Of Sea and Sand by Jonah
Simon and Garret are here again, looking after their young family. If you are unfamiliar with this family, we first met Simon in 'A Letter from America' back in 2019. He was a teenager then, now he is well into adulthood. Garret originated in another author's story. I want to thank Jacob Lion, in the USA for his permission to use his characters in my story. That's one of the things I want to make plain, all the characters in this, and all my other stories are wholly fictitious. They aren't based on real people. The other thing I want to make plain is that, while Simon and Garret are both gay, as are some other characters, this is a story about love - not sex, lust, or any other substitute, but real Christian love. If it's pornography you want, you'll have to find it somewhere else. Lastly, this story is brought to you by Nifty, free of charge. Nifty doesn't charge me to publish it, nor you to read it, but it does cost money to bring it to you. Please consider donating to Nifty at https://donate.nifty.org/ so that these stories continue to be available for all to read.
Chapter 4
The 4:15 arrival at Sheringham was our last train. Just as well really since Don hadn't left much coal in the tender by then. It was just about enough to get us light engine back to Weybourne. I don't know if Grev and Barry travelled on the trains any more after that second trip. If they did, they did it in the train. They certainly weren't on my engine any more. I had briefly seen Lloyd when we got back to Sheringham, but never had time to look for the others.
At ten to six, with the B12 disposed properly, I drove back to Sheringham and parked in the staff car park. Garret, Grev, Luke and the boys were waiting on the platform for me.
"You on tomorrow as well Luke?" I inquired.
"No mate, I'm driving back home tomorrow, but I'm staying at the Boats tonight to get a decent night's sleep for once."
"Good plan mate. What does Rikki do when she wants a decent nights sleep?"
He kooked at me as if I'd just suggested shooting Bambi.
"All right mate," he said. "We've got it sussed. If you must know, I've got the twins on Friday night while she goes to a hen party."
"And tonight, we're off to dinner at the Boats," Garret added.
The Two Lifeboats Hotel is a favourite dining place in Sheringham. At this time of year we would dine outside - much better with children in tow. Al fresco dining is always better when somebody else is paying for it. On this occasion, Garret was taking the bill, as it got him out of cooking for us. Lloyd's visit to the toilet resulted in his bringing Ben Pigeon and Ralph Povey back with him. Ralph was down as Ben's fireman on the 9F on Sunday so the pair of them were lodging on the railway overnight. We made a convivial eightsome and the meal, and subsequent imbibing et cetera, passed happily.
Barry volunteered to travel home with me to make more space in Garret's car. I didn't mention that Garret had a larger car than I, since I would be glad of the company. We arrived back in Newton St. Faith within minutes of each other and lost no time in declaring bedtime - for the boys, that is.
We grown-ups sat in the lounge and modified the level in our bottle of Glenmorangie, as compensation for not being able to drink in the Boats (well Grev could have - he wasn't driving).
"I spoke to Mrs. Kesteven this morning," Garret remarked.
"Did she give you an answer then" I queried.
"No, she rang to tell us the sun was shining. Of course she gave me an answer. It's fine and will only cost us another thirty quid."
"For the week?"
"Yup."
"When does she need to know by?"
"A.S.A.P. so I suppose we'd better get on with it."
I glanced at Grev. He had been politely ignoring the conversation but suddenly he realised that it involved him.
"Watcha doing next week mate?" I asked.
He studiously took a sip of his whisky then said,
"Simon Ito, you're plotting something. What is it?"
"Well we're off on holiday next week," I told him, "and the boys want you to come with us."
"And the boys - conveniently - aren't here to speak for themselves."
I nodded brightly.
"Hmmm!" he said thoughtfully. "It's going to cost me thirty quid."
"And there'll be a return train fare to Margate," I said. "We'll help with that, of course."
"No you won't, or I'm not going."
I was the foster parent of Barry. There's no point in being a parent if you don't learn anything, so I knew exactly how to exploit that. I'd fallen victim to it often enough myself. Garret knew too.
"So you're paying your train fare and the excess on the lodgings," he said with an air of finality.
Suddenly Grev spotted the danger.
"I didn't actually say I was going," he pointed out.
"Too late to change your mind now," I replied, as if he had actually said he was going.
He looked from me to Garret, and back again, then gave up. He raised his glass.
"Cheers!" he said resignedly.
On Sunday morning we all went to Church. Grev was an Anglican, and a fairly high Church one at that, but he opted to be an honorary Methodist on this occasion and came to Horsham St. Faith with the rest of us. Ted Donovan was the local preacher officiating and he must have been one of Grev's neighbours in Hellesdon, but I never discovered whether they knew each other. Of course, if he knew Grev, he'd know Eilene too, so Grev might have been avoiding him.
When it came to local preachers, the Ito family tended to leave no turn unstoned, especially on the rare occasions that Garret came with us. The ride home was the opportunity to dissect Ted's sermon, and debate any contentions therein. All three boys would affirm what they believed and what they were sceptical of, and the adults were no more reticent.
I had put the joint in before we left so it only remained to make gravy, cook vegetables and serve up.
After dinner, and washing up, I thumbed through our selection of DVDs. "The Mikado" was the selection for the afternoon. Jonah would have enjoyed it. It was Garret's choice and I was surprised. The debate has long ranged in America whether this most English of operas is racist. If it was, nobody had more claim to be offended by it than Garret, who was both Japanese and American. Never mind, it is very funny and we all enjoyed it. The rest of the day consisted of tea and preparation for school on Monday. Nobody was late going to bed.
Monday morning was another schoolday and, as usual, I thoroughly enjoyed having a competent classroom assistant. Monday flew by. So did Tuesday. Wednesday and Thursday ditto. Our students were starting to get demob-happy - especially those who would be leaving at the end of term.
On Friday I forewent my classroom assistant. I wasn't conducting proper lessons on that day anyway. How do you spend a whole double period saying goodbye to folks and wishing them a good holiday?
I collected in textbooks, where they would not be needed, and did admin things while Grev sort of resumed his principal role. Charles stayed in charge, but Grev roamed from classroom to classroom thanking the staff and passing on good wishes to the pupils. It was a part of the job that he liked and Charles saw no reason to deprive him.
Friday night was chaotic. All sorts of things were not available for use because they had been packed. Food had to be used up rather than left in the cupboards. Bedtime had to be early.