The Briny Café Read Free Page A

she’s heard the joint’s rumoured to have a ghost, knocking on her door in the witching hour might scare her rigid.
    Jeez. He’ll never understand why anyone would want to buy a mouldy old pile of crumbling sandstone in the shadow of a dank escarpment. One season of monsoon rain like they had ten years ago and the whole shebang could quietly slipdown the hill into the bay. If she’d bothered to ask around, any local would have explained the downside of cheap when it was applied to waterfront . Must be a dreamer, he decides, feeling a swell of pity for what lies ahead of her. More money than brains.
    Cook’s Basin News (CBN)
    Newsletter for Offshore Residents of Cook’s Basin, Australia
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    OCTOBER
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    FOR SALE
    A local secondhand kayak.
    Contact Josie
    A local secondhand two-person kayak.
    Contact Russell
    Kingfish Bay Hazard Reduction Burn
    The hazard reduction burn on the north side of Kingfish Bay is now complete. Residents (yes, that DOES mean you, Stinger) are asked to walk on the fire trail only for the next few days as the ground is hot and trees might suddenly drop their branches, with the potential to cause serious injury.
    If you see serious flare-ups, please ring emergency services.
    SUMMER SHAPE-UP
    Pilates classes will recommence in Angie’s house on Saturday morning.
    $15 per session or
    $120 for 10 sessions.
    CUTTER ISLAND OFFSHORE WINE LOVER’S SOCIETY
    Date: November 8
    Time: 4 p.m.
    Place: The Flahertys
    The hard-working members of the Society – after much deep thought, serious consideration and tireless testing – have made their summer wine selection and will forward tasting notes, price lists and any other relevant information shortly.
    Concerned Resident’s Letter (name supplied)
    Recently, a lone mangrove, just 30 cm high, was removed from in front of our house.
    We have nurtured that mangrove for twenty years in the hope it would multiply and provide fish nurseries to keep our waters teeming with life.
    Also, we have lost our resident python, Siphon, who is harmless and keeps our rat population down. If he has wandered off, fine; if he has been removed out of ignorance, please learn an understanding of our wildlife or return to suburbia where the animals are mostly two-legged and often venomous.

CHAPTER TWO
    The Briny Café hovers over the water at the end of a yellow streak of sand, a ramshackle building made from timber planks weathered to silver by the sun, sea and wind. It stands resolute – the beating heart of Cook’s Basin – despite a long list of culinary inconsistencies and a slightly cartoonish lean towards the east, brought on by the annual hammering of the icy August westerlies.
    On the deck, after a breakfast that is memorable for all the wrong reasons, Sam Scully pays for a newspaper at the cluttered front counter and strides into the Square looking for company. He has four hours to kill before the next high tide when he’s due to transport six tonnes of soil to a garden project in Kingfish Bay. The new owner, a retired chef, has straightened and strengthened the old 1950s holiday house without losing its character (although if he wanted a posh garden, he’s headed for heartbreak – the wallabies always win).
    Sam sees the water taxi tied up at the end of the wharf and looks around for its driver Fast Freddy. Despite his racy moniker, Sam finds that spending time with Freddy is like relaxing in a pool of cool water on a sweltering day.
    He spots him nursing a coffee at a picnic table under a couple of stringy shade trees and makes his way towards him through clutches of lily-white tourists, out frolicking on the first warm day of the season. Despite the sunshine, Freddy is still rugged up in his night-shift clobber – a warm red fleece, blue trackie daks and lambskin boots that come up to his knees.
    â€œBusiness slow?” Sam asks, brushing a few crumbs off the bench and taking a pew beside him.
    Fast