Chapter 50: Pauline Thinks Back
Friday Afternoon
Pauline answered the door, excited to see Al there. She reached for him to give him a kiss, which he returned but with an embarrassed look.
"Paul, we need to talk. I've been thinkin' about things."
They went into the kitchen, where Pauline put the kettle on and brought out some biscuits. She was happy her mother was out for the afternoon. "You're going to push for more movie roles, now you're making connections in the industry?"
"Oh, I dunno about that." He seemed surprised at the idea. "You can paint me up with makeup and dress me up in old timey clothes but I'm still just playin' myself. How many movies or TV shows are gonna need Al Large in 'em?"
"You could take acting classes, expand your range."
"Don't think I have much range, can't expand what you don't have."
She considered the wisdom of this thought. "Maybe you're right, you're too genuine for the bright lights of Tinseltown. You're like a stick of rock,
"What d'you mean? Like minty?"
"No silly, solid. A stick of rock that says 'Al' all the way through."
"Yeah, I reckon," he laughed. "Somethin' good did come of it all though."
"I've been thinking too." She poured the tea and sat down with him. "If that shiny key is still available, I think I'd like to have it now. Move in with you, I mean."
"Actually Paul, I was thinkin' something different." He paused to pour milk into his cup and stir it. "I got all this extra cash now from the movie and all, and I was thinkin' how you were so eager to get out of Portwenn for a while, expand your horizons so to speak, so I maybe thought I might… er, take a sort of gap year."
"What do you mean, gap year? You want to go to university?"
"Just the University of Life, as my Dad would say. It's a big world out there. I was thinkin' of going abroad, not for a whole year, but for a while."
She wasn't sure what to make of this. "Like where?"
"Africa, for a start. Always wanted to go see lions and elephants, maybe some gorillas. Maybe head for Lake Victoria, supposed to be a great party scene for backpackers there now."
"Al Large, partying in Africa." She was really having a hard time picturing this.
"It's a chance to live it up for a while, get away from Dad and plumbing. You know, like they say, find yourself. All this stuff happenin' lately, it's like a sign. Life is short, anything can happen."
"I kinda feel like putting off going outside Portwenn for a while. My Mum won't like it, that's for sure, and how would I break it to the Doc? He's come to rely on me."
Al suddenly looked like he'd been caught in a tight spot. "Er, well… you see, Paul, findin' yourself… I mean, findin' myself…" He put a sugar lump into his tea, even though he normally didn't take sugar. "…means goin' off on an adventure… by myself." He avoided her eyes, dumped a few more sugar lumps in his cup, and stirred vigorously.
She looked at him incredulously. "So… it's really me you want to get away from."
"No! No, I'm not runnin' off from you," he was quick to reply. "I'll be back."
Pauline was blinking back tears by now.
"Aw Pauline, I don't wanna make you cry. Like I said that day at the cliffs, you know I'll always come back to you. I just… I just don't know when."
"What's your Dad think about this?"
"He doesn't know yet. I've only just decided and I wanted to tell you first. I know he won't like it one bit, but that's the thing, Dad doesn't ever want me to be on my own. He painted 'Large and Son' on the van the day I was born, never asked me how I felt about it. There's got to be more to life than being Plumber Boy. I'm sorry Pauline, our time will come eventually, I really think so. It just isn't now."
There had been so much excitement lately, Pauline had pushed the traumatic memories of That Day out of her mind but now they came flooding back.
ooOOOOOoo
They all piled into the Doc's car and drove out to the cliffs. The Colonel gestured over to the edge where they could see Al with the sprawled body of Ted the Baker down on the ledge, just a few feet above the crashing waves.
Crazy Jonathan and the Colonel had an angry exchange about the gun and the explosives, and then Bert showed up with his van. Pauline was too frantic with worry to take it all in, but it was clear Ted was in a bad way and Al was getting desperate. The Doc agreed to be lowered down by the winch on Bert's van, but Pauline could tell he was not happy about it.
Pauline could see Al's worried expression and his horror when the Doc employed the drill. She figured it was a crude method of relieving pressure on the brain, like the old fashioned trepanning she had once read about. Then the Doc and Ted were winched up. Al had to free climb behind them, nimble as a monkey, but still with the dreaded bag slung over his back. Pauline realized he probably had no idea how dangerous it was.
She helped them up over the cliff edge, only for Jonathan to demand the bag and get into a scuffle with the Doc, who grabbed the gun away. If only he had done that back at the surgery this all could have been avoided, Pauline thought.
"Call an ambulance," the Doc ordered her. "Tell them to expect a man with an intracranial bleed, treated successfully by emergency trepanation. Accompanied by a really annoying man who needs sectioning under the Mental Health Act."
Pauline pulled out her mobile but she was too distraught to make the call. Louisa gently took the phone from her and rang 999.
The Doc then ordered Al to lock the explosives and the gun in the boot of the Lexus. It was only then that Al realized what was in the bag. "Explosives?!"
"Oh come on Al, you carried them up a cliff, you'll survive the trip to the car," the Doc barked. As sensitive as ever, Pauline thought sarcastically.
She walked with Al as he went to lock the items in the car. She took his arm and he put his arm around her and gave her a kiss.
"Action Man," she said, adoringly.
"No," he replied, in his typical bashful manner.
"Yeah. Totally. Climbing up the cliff and all that."
"Well, it was quite excitin' yeah. You OK?"
"Yeah. The shaking stopped. Don't think I'll be settin' foot outside the house again. Well, Portwenn anyway. Not for a while."
"I dunno, I think you're onto something there. It's a big world out there." He laughed at her dismayed reaction. "What? You know I'll always come back to you. Don't you? OK."
The rest was a blur again, with the Doc examining the Ted, the Colonel arguing with Bert about who incited Ted to steal the chough eggs, and Louisa talking to her father. In the commotion, Jonathan managed to nick a crowbar from the van and pry open the Lexus to grab the dreaded bag. Fortunately, once he had it he didn't bother with the shotgun again. Pauline shuddered to think what would have happened it he had grabbed the gun.
In his clueless eagerness to shake hands with the Doc and make amends, Jonathan tossed the bag on top of poor old Ted, who groaned in pain.
Furious, the Doc grabbed the bag, they scuffled, and the Doc hurled it over the cliff to the ledge where they had just been.
KABOOM!
Everyone was shocked into silence. In the distance sirens began rapidly approaching.
"Excuse me," the Doc said. He took his medical bag and stalked away.
The ambulance came and took away Ted and Jonathan. The police tried to sort out exactly what had happened, but with everyone talking excitedly at once they insisted the whole lot of them come down to the Delabole station. There they brought everyone in one by one to give their statement to sort out exactly who was going to be charged with what.
Pauline gave her account of the whole day, from the moment Jonathan had shown up at the surgery to the final explosion. She was distressed to find the police seemed suspicious that Al had some connection to the smugglers but she finally managed to convince them that he had no idea what was in the bag and was only cooperating under duress as his girlfriend and others were being held hostage.
After they were done, there was some nonsense about Bert's van not being legal to be on the road, so they got a ride from the Colonel, who dropped them off at the Large house. Once safely inside the front door, all the tension from the terrible day suddenly dropped away.
"You know, I just realized," Pauline said. "This is the first time we've had a house to ourselves, either your place or mine, in like ever. We don't have to go out to our special rock, or fumble around in the van, or worry about my Mum or your Dad walking in on us."
In reply, Al pulled her close and they kissed. With a confidence he had never shown before, he guided her into the living room and they sat together on the sofa. The guileless, straightforward Al suddenly seemed to find the romantic streak he had ineptly tried to show the night he had given her the key. With newfound confidence he dimmed the lights, lit a fire, got them each a beer from the fridge, and they snuggled together on the sofa, so glad just to be alive. Soon they were intertwined together in front of the fireplace and what had been the worst day of her life turned into the best night of her life.
ooOOOOOoo
Now, as Al went out the door, Pauline's tears were coming too fast to wipe away any longer. She let them flow freely and watched as he walked away down the hill, scratching the back of his neck.
To be continued…
Note: That's the end of Al and Pauline's part of the story. I hate to leave Pauline with an unhappy ending but it sets her up for how she has problems in Series 3. Al does return to her but of course, as we know in the long run, they are not destined to live happily ever after together.