Page 36 of A Typical Family Summer

Chapter 13

‘Ron, where are we?’ Jake’s expressionwas earnest, as the boy came running up to him, chasing the football.

‘Erm, I’m not sure what you mean.’ Ron stopped the ball with his foot and picked it up. He, Sam, and Jake had been having a kick-about on the beach. Ron had offered to take the boys out because they’d been restless and, if he was honest, he wanted to get out of the house and away from Annabelle for a while. The events of last night weighed heavily on his mind.

He’d lain awake for hours after they’d got back, mulling the whole thing over and over until he was sick of thinking about it, and had arrived at the conclusion that he was ashamed of himself for having taken advantage of a woman who was clearly vulnerable.

At this moment Rondidn’t likehimself very much, because he hadn’t thought he was that kind of man.

‘Where are we?’ Jake asked again. He was still gazing up at him, Sam by his side.

‘On the beach?’ Ron hazarded a guess, not sure what the boy was getting at, and thinking this might be some kind of a riddle.

‘Bigger,’ Jake said.

‘Rest Bay?’ Is that what he wanted to know?

‘Bigger!’ Jake opened his arms wide.

‘Porthcawl.’

‘Bigger,’ the boy urged.

‘South Wales,’ Ron replied with gusto, joining in with the game.

That gave Jake pause. ‘South Wales?’

‘That’s right.’

‘But we’re not in Australia.’ Jake’s face scrunched up into a frown.

‘This, here, is the original South Wales,’ Ron explained, leading the boys along the beach towards the slipway. ‘When Australiawasfirst colonised by the British, part of it looked similar to South Wales, where we are now, so they called itNewSouth Wales.’

‘Is there a North Wales, an East Wales and West Wales?’ the boy wanted to know.

‘Yes to North and West, but the other bit isusually called Mid Wales.’

‘That’s silly.’

‘I suppose it is. Why do you wantto know?’

‘Wales has lots of castles,’ Sam piped up. ‘We learned about them in school. King Edward built them to scare the Welsh.’

‘That’s right, he did,’Ron said.

‘Can we go and see acastle?’Sam asked. ‘I’ve been to Warwick Castle on a school trip, but it’s not the same as a ruined one.’

‘You’ll have to ask your mother. I’m not sure where the nearest one is.’

‘There’s one in Cardiff,’ Sam said. ‘That’s Wales’s capital city. I saw signs for Cardiff when we were on the motorway.’

‘Is Cardiff big?’ Jake asked.

‘I suppose it is.’ Ron wondered at this sudden interest in geography.

‘Is it far?’the boy asked.

‘About thirty miles, I believe.’