Chapter 8: "No!"

Thursday Midday

Martin returned to the surgery and found the waiting room was full. Morwenna was now wearing a large badge with the word "No!" in bright red letters. Everyone in the room seemed to be arguing loudly.

"What's this?" he demanded, looking at the badge.

"It's about the outlet mall Doc. Al's helping to organize the campaign against it. Want a badge?" She held one out to him.

"Er, no thank you." He hated the idea of pinning something to the fine wool lapel of his bespoke suit or really wearing anything he considered so gaudy.

"Go on, Doc," said one man. "Everyone's got an opinion about this. You can't just sit on the fence."

"Don't put him on the spot, Morwenna," a woman said. "The Doc's a sensible man, he knows Treasure Island is just what this village needs. We can use the jobs here."

Martin looked around the room and saw that almost everyone in the place was wearing either the same badge Morwenna had or one with the word "Yes!" in bright green letters.

"I hear old Pratt's only selling out because of the curse on his farm," another man said. "The White Hare has come back and struck him down with the sickness. Ain't that right, Doc?"

Martin scoffed. "A curse is nothing but a ridiculous legend, and in any case I will not discuss my patients."

Morwenna leaned over the desk and discretely handed him some paperwork. "I don't know where you stand on the issue Doc, but I've heard Mr. Bellingham is your cousin," she said in a confidential whisper. "I hope you won't let family ties influence your opinion in favour of this project."

"Certainly not! And stop whispering."

"In any case," she spoke a little louder, "Mr. Bellingham got here and filled out his paperwork right after you left for the house call. He insisted on waiting for you in your office. He's been making himself at home in there."

Martin grimaced. "What does he want?"

"He wants to register with the surgery. Says he'll be in the village for some time so he might as well."

Martin strode into his office, to see Malcolm standing behind his desk examining the golden Buddha. "Never thought of you as the meditative type, Ellsie," Malcolm said.

"Sit!" Martin pointed to the chair in front of his desk.

"I see you haven't lost your charm though."

"Sit, please!"

Grinning, Malcolm plunked himself in the chair. Martin took his place behind the desk. He quickly assessed his cousin's appearance: casually but expensively dressed in a golf shirt and khaki trousers, skin a bit unnaturally smooth about the eyes for a man of his age. Undoubtedly he'd had work done. His teeth were straighter than Martin remembered and looked like they had been bleached.

"What d'you want, Malcolm?"

"Here to register with the local surgery. I've done all my paperwork already, I see the girl gave it to you."

Martin perused the file without speaking.

"So where are you staying while you're here, Malcolm?" Malcolm filled the awkward silence by imitating Martin's gruff voice. "Glad you asked, Martin. I'm staying at the Wilson Hotel but that's just temporary while my boat is refurbished. She's really just a weekender, bought her to celebrate some successes I've had recently, developing a golf resort in Portugal and so on. I sailed her around from London myself, now I'm having her refitted here. Goes over well with the locals if you hire them for a job like that. When she's ready I could take you out for a jaunt up and down the coast if you like."

"No thank you." Martin motioned toward the exam table. "Sit, please, and roll up your sleeve."

Malcolm complied. "I hired a car to get around in while I'm here, a Range Rover Velar, very sporty. I prefer a classic Jaguar convertible when I'm in London, but there's none available for hire around this backwater."

"Quiet, please!" Martin inflated the blood pressure cuff and listened through his stethoscope. Then he released the cuff and made a note in the file.

"I must say I was surprised to see you at the meeting the other night," Malcolm said. "I'd heard you'd done a runner from London years ago, blood phobia and all that, but I never imagined you'd end up in the back of beyond like this. And you managed to knock up one of the locals too. Twice, apparently!"

Martin glared and opened his mouth to retort back but Malcolm laughed it off.

"Oh don't get your knickers in a twist, no disrespect intended. I'm envious actually, your wife seems like a charming woman. A real beauty too. My ex-wives were complete shrews."

"Hm." No surprise there, Martin thought.

"Anyway, I had a conversation with your lovely Louisa at the Village Hall. She said she was on the fence about my plan but now she quite sees the sense of it, how it will benefit the village. Very sensible woman. You should listen to her."

"My discussions with my wife are my business," Martin retorted. "Your blood pressure is rather high. Has your GP in London mentioned this before?"

"He may have, once or twice."

"Are you taking anything for it?"

"No, rather not be popping pills for something so marginal."

"You should at least consider watching your diet and alcohol intake. I seem to recall you're rather fond of rare steaks and whisky."

"And I seem to recall you liked a bit of whisky yourself back in the day, Martin."

"Hm. I haven't touched it in years. Makes me sleepy. You should try some of the local seafood, very fresh round here, much better for your health." Martin found his tone was becoming almost conversational. Seeing Malcolm after so many years, he had a sudden impulse to inquire about Aunt Marion, really as a pretext to see if Malcolm had any word of where Mum had ended up.

"No wonder you're looking so trim for your age Martin, nobody can rock a bespoke suit like you. But no thanks, old boy. Never could go for fish, unless it's fried up and served with chips. A good steak and a shot of Lagavulin single malt are what make life worth living."

In a flash of irritation, Martin's impulse to learn any news about Mum was gone. "If you aren't going to take my advice, why did you even bother coming to my surgery?"

"To be honest Ellsie, I wanted a chance to talk to you, to persuade you to change your mind about supporting my project. You're a big fish in this mud puddle of a village, your opinion must carry some sway around here."

"So you're here to waste my time. I have a waiting room full of people with genuine problems out there, medical appointments are not to be used for personal conversations."

"Come on Ellsie, be reasonable."

"Get out of my office! Please!"

Martin got up to pointedly show the way out and accompanied Malcolm through the door. "And don't call me Ellsie. This isn't boarding school and we're not adolescent boys any more! It's Dr. Martin Ellingham!"

He strode over to Morwenna's desk. "Where's that badge?" He grabbed one off her desk and pinned it to his lapel. Seemingly unfazed, Malcolm gave a brilliant smile, waved at the small audience watching this thrilling mini-drama unfold, and made a graceful exit.

To be continued…