‘Hmmm. I would say the bright colours, the forthright brush-strokes applied with absolute confidence in these jolly beach themes could only be … Zoe?’
‘Yay! Das me, das me!’ came the approving reply. Zoe led him with her stomping gait to another part of the studio. ‘Look.’
The draughtsmanship evident in the red-highlighted boats bobbing in a harbour were clearly Peter’s. Elodie’s canvasses were of seascapes at sunset and sunrise, sketches in blues and greens, always with a particular blush of colour.
‘What do you call this hue?’
‘Crimson Lake.’
‘Ah. Thank you. I have a lot to learn. Do you mind if I look through these?’
‘Anything you like,’ confirmed Peter.
‘Hm, this is rather lovely,’ said Hogarth looking at a canvas right at the back of a stack. It was of a small body of water, red in the setting sun, with tall grass at the edge.
‘A lake rather than the sea,’ he remarked.
‘That’s right,’ Elodie confirmed.
‘I wondered if it was Dozmary Pool.’
Marielle chuckled.
‘We do have lakes in Spain, you know. Perhaps one day, Harry and Vera will take you to Montseny. A favourite, and at its most beautiful at this time of day,’ she commented, gesturing towards the painting.
‘Ah, I see. And ... I’m guessing these are yours.’ The canvasses were of frolicsome waves, flirting couples, skirts hovering in the sea breeze. They also had the feeling of transparency, illusion, teasing the eye to believe it could gaze beyond the water, the fabric, the clouds. Hogarth considered that they could only be the work of Marielle. ‘Charming. Especially the girl with the red shoes.’
She curtseyed gracefully. ‘Well, that does leave only one other artist.’
‘These? Oh yes. Even these abstracts ... they exude peace and serenity.’ Geoffrey bowed.
‘They are all delightful,’ Hogarth said. ‘And ethereal.’ Even Zoe’s dramatic sweeps and twirls. There’s also a ... a warmth, comfort and ... what shall I say? The adventure of otherworldliness.’
Marielle shook her head saucily. ‘And you claimed you knew nothing about art.’
‘You really like them?’ asked Elodie.
‘I do. Very much. Do you do just paintings?’
‘Good question,’ Marielle praised him. ‘This is the part of the tour where we haul out the merchandise!’ There were prints, soft furnishings, tea towels, bookmarks, calendars, scarves, bags and mugs.
‘Would you like this?’ asked Geoffrey, seeing Hogarth’s interest in a particular bookmark. ‘Please take it.’
‘Take my tea towel,’ said Zoe, presenting it to Hogarth. It depicted a big, red, happy-faced starfish, with shells and seaweed. “An’ you don’t have to think of me when you use it. Jus’ be happy,’ she added with a seraphic smile.
‘Thank you, both of you. You’re very kind.’
‘Well, I like you,’ replied Zoe, by way of both a statement and an explanation.
‘I like you t—’
‘Ugh!’ exclaimed Zoe, all of a sudden, observing something on the floor.
‘Oh dear, yes, arachnid alert,’ said Peter. Detecting danger, the creature froze. Hogarth, though not an ardent fan, was equal to the task of delivering such lifeforms as he found in his house back into the wild. He bent to scoop it up, but was forestalled by a sandal emphatically resolving the situation.
‘Zoe, Michael was about to take it away,’ Peter pointed out.
‘Yeh well, thas dealt wivit.’
‘Erm,’ Peter rocked on his heels, hands in his pockets, ‘... living creature?’
‘Well, I doan like it. They know not to come in if they don’t want squishing.’
‘I’m not sure they do,’ Geoffrey responded gently.
‘Anyway. S’done.’
Peter cleared his throat and changed the subject to how Vee and Harry had helped to get the Palomo business started.
‘They kindly bought a piece for the restaurant. They exhibited other canvases, spreading the word amongst their friends. Bit by bit, it all sold, and the commissions began coming in. And now we live very comfortably, as you see. And it’s all thanks to them.’
‘And, in all fairness, to your talents,’ added Hogarth.
‘Thank you.’
‘Are you my new friend?’ Zoe asked abruptly.
‘I hope so.’
‘Das good. Shall I tell you what I like?’
‘Yes, please,’ he said.
‘I like the beach and jumping, and ice-cream and painting and Harry and Vee. And Harry makes yummy food for me.’ A dimple appeared, and the blue eyes sparkled joyfully she tilted her head to one side in thought. ‘Because he love me so much. And Vee does puzzles with me. I think they might be my bess friens.’
‘Well,’ responded Hogarth, ‘so far we do seem to like all the same things. Except I do a different sort of painting and I like admiring the work of others who do your sort.’
‘Hm,’ came the sound of Zoe’s approval.
With that, they returned to the sitting room.
‘Thank you for the interlude, all of you,’ said Hogarth, taking a seat.
‘This whole business .... It is all a bit heavy, isn’t it?’ sympathised Elodie. ‘Can’t be easy to hear this sort of thing.’
‘It goes with the job. You did remarkably well to survive.’
‘I won’t pretend I took it all in my stride. I felt I had no choice but to hang on in there, so to speak, for the sake of the children. Things did get a little more complicated with the loss of puppy fat and the emergence of curves. One of the Dowrkampyer sons, Frongar, started noticing .... It meant having to be careful he wasn’t watching me. I did my best and succeeded in keeping out of his way or seeing him only in company. And so it continued until that night. The night of the fire.
***
‘And shall we have our interlude? Tea?’ asked Hogarth.
‘Hm, yes please,’ replied Trelawney.
‘Just as we get to the really exciting part!’ Amanda exclaimed. ‘Oh well, at least ....
