Read Online Two Weddings and a Baby by Scarlett Bailey - Free Book Online

baby,’ she repeated as shock kicked in. ‘In the rain.’ Tamsyn shook her arm vigorously before realising that she still had her jumper rucked up just under her bra, which was when she noticed that a police officer in full uniform was standing at the bar.
    ‘Oh, thank goodness,’ she said. ‘You need to call people, more police, doctors, ambulances, the coastguard. Mary Poppins. You need to call all of the people and get them right here, now. I found a baby!’
    ‘Sorry, young lady,’ the policeman said to her, not unkindly. ‘It is very unlikely that any of that is going to happen now. I was just here to evacuate the pub. The rivers have burst their banks top and bottom; the high tide’s swamping half the town and Poldore has been completely cut off. Me and the lads are down here to get everyone out from the harbour to the esplanade before it’s too late.’
    It was then that Tamsyn burst into uncontrollable tears.
    ‘Moses basket.’ Sergeant Jeff Dangerfield wrote down everything Tamsyn told him, as Eddie, Lucy and Rosie packed the pub up around them, carrying what they could to the first floor with the help of Jed, Alex and Cordelia. Alex’s mum had left with Lucy’s keys as well as her own, as they lived virtually next door to each other, in the hope of being able to move their most precious items to safety.
    ‘Remember, save the dresses first,’ Alex called after her as she headed into the night in a silver padded raincoat. ‘Oh, and take care!’
    ‘Any sign of the mother?’ Sergeant Dangerfield looked around him, clearly nervous that it was taking so long to move these people on.
    ‘No, I looked for as long as I could,’ Tamsyn said, huddled in a blanket and now wearing two of Lucy’s thickest jumpers and a pair of Lucy’s jeans, which hung off her even when secured with a belt. The baby, also wrapped in a dry blanket, was back in the crook of her arm, the only place it seemed to be peaceful, its eyes closed resolutely as if it simply didn’t want to know what was going on. Now Tamsyn had a chance to look at it properly, she could see that – young as it was – it had been cared for by someone. It was dressed in a tiny white vest under a white buttoned-up Babygro, and a little soft red cardigan and matching hat were keeping it warm under a sort of furry all-in-one affair that had ears like a teddy. Whoever had left the child had done their best to ensure that it was warm enough, which it would have been on any other June night. Perhaps they had left before the rain had really started to set in, or left the basket in a place of safety, unaware that the water was going to rise enough to flood the shelter of the church porch and wash the baby away. Whatever had happened, Tamsyn just had to look at the tiny teddy-shaped buttons to know that the person who had done them up could never mean this child any harm.
    She watched the closed little face for a moment longer as everyone else bustled around them, preparing for what, she wasn’t sure. What a way to meet the world! Soon the poor scrap would be getting hungry, if it wasn’t already. And it couldn’t stay in her arms for ever, even if, as far as it was concerned, that was the beginning and end of existence.
    ‘We can’t stay here much longer,’ Sergeant Dangerfield told them, putting the notepad away. ‘I’ll radio St Austell to tell them about the baby, but now we need to get everyone to safety. I’ve still got other houses to get to. I need to get people to higher ground … I was thinking, the hotel.’
    ‘Castle House,’ Sue Montaigne said. ‘It’s high enough and strong enough not to be washed away by a bit of water, and we have the empty moat, which should go a long way to making sure the flood doesn’t breach our defences. And it’s big enough to take in as many as we need to.’
    Ruan came back inside from the storm. ‘I’ll help you round people up,’ he told Sergeant Dangerfield. ‘It’s really bad out there.