The water in Majorca

Chapter 1.

It was 4am and the lights were already on at Jacob's Fold. The sun was yet to rise and so the sky was in perfect darkness apart from a slither of moonlight that peeked around grey clouds. As the village slept, Charity was making breakfast for four. The scent of buttered toast and jam was in the air, and in a couple of hours so too would they be. On the coffee table across the room, was a folder containing passports and boarding passes for a well deserved, and expensive family holiday. Charity had promised the kids that she would take them away this year. Originally, she had only planned to book a couple of nights in a caravan down by some nearby beach town, but with holidays abroad costing a similar price these days, she ended up taking the plunge and forking out for an all inclusive resort on a Spanish island.

As Charity pushed down the lever of the toaster for a second time, Noah carefully carried their suitcases down the stairs, one at a time, and lined them up beside the front door. Sarah had insisted on applying makeup, even though according to Charity 'no one worth a second glance would see her, because anyone with an ounce of common sense would be in bed for the foreseeable'. The teenager rolled her eyes at her Gran, then got right back to applying a thick layer of mascara onto her eyelashes. Moses on the other hand, sat at the table, legs kicking and swinging as he managed to get more jam up his checks than into his mouth.

"That's all of them" Noah grunted from behind overgrown curls. His voice was deep and croaky with sleep, his eyes still half closed.

"Good. Eh, don't lay down there you'll drop back off" Charity warned, flicking him in the arm with a damp tea towel as her son attempted to sprawl out across the sofa.
"But I'm tired" Noah groaned, stifling a yawn.

"Well, who's fault is that?",

"Er, yours? You're the one that booked a red eye flight".
"It was cheaper, besides I wanna make the most of my money by arriving as early as possible. Flying four hours earlier means four more hours of sunshine".
"Four hours longer at the all inclusive bar you mean" Sarah spoke up.

"Are you forgetting I own my own pub? I can have a free drink whenever I want, thank you. Plus my booze isn't watered down" Charity scorned. But she was looking forward to laying by the pool, getting tanned and tipsy in thirty degree heat, and the fact the alcohol was free all week was nothing but a bonus.

Half a loaf of bread later, they were all fed and ready to get the last of their things in order so that they could finally leave for the airport. Moses had been on his best behaviour all week because Charity had promised him the biggest ice-cream they could find if he spoke less than a hundred words a day and went to sleep at 7pm every night. He hadn't quite managed it but was well behaved enough that the deal held up.
Their taxi slowly crept down Main Street and pulled up outside the garden gate right on time. Red break lights lit up the living room, alerting them all to its arrival just as Charity was beginning to fret about the time.
"Taxis here" Noah yawned.
"No, is it?" Sarah scoffed sarcastically as she pulled the straps to her backpack onto her shoulders. Noah replied by pulling a face and throwing his headphones on.
"Are we getting on an aeroplane now?" Moses asked in a sickly-sweet shriek.
"No, son. We're still in the house at the moment" Charity spoke through gritted teeth and widened eyes as she gathered her belongings and heavy handbag. Moses leapt down from the table and ran to the window to check anyway.
"Someone open the door so he knows that we know he's here" Charity added as she double checked the amount of passports in the folder.
Sarah swung the door open and waved to the driver.
"You fancy him," Noah teased as the realisation of the trip finally dawned on him, excitement suddenly pooling in his stomach.
"No, I don't. He's well ancient" Sarah groaned as she took a second look at the balding middle aged man behind the wheel.
Upon noticing the lack of 'father figure' amongst the family, the driver came to help with the suitcases. If it wasn't so nauseatingly early, Charity would have made it clear that she was able to pull her own suitcase down the garden path, but the cup of coffee she had drunk upon waking was yet to make much of an impact on how tired she was, so she allowed him to play the role of a gentleman, as she played the role of a polite and thankful 'little woman'.
She locked the door behind them all, then jumped into the front seat, popping her bag at her feet.
Sarah flopped into the back of the car and then slid all the way across the back seats to allow the boys inside. Moses was the perfect size for the middle, whereas Noah felt a little cramped behind the driver's seat, which was practically in his lap.
"Going anywhere nice?" The driver asked as he closed the boot and returned to the car.
"No, no. We thought we'd just book somewhere terrible" Charity joked, though the driver struggled to find the sarcasm in her tone. He grunted and pulled off, the tyres crunching slightly over the gravel on the road.
"We're going to Spain" Sarah put in to dispel the awkward atmosphere.
"No we're not, we're going to Majorca" Noah said, his brows furrowed in confusion.
"Majorca is in Spain, you dumbo" Sarah replied.
"Is it?"
"Yeah, kinda. It's an island over there somewhere"
"I'm going to have the biggest ice-cream in the world" Moses shrieked.
"Remember our deal?" Charity prompted, turning and glaring at her little one with a finger of warning pointing at his face.
With that, Moses sat upright and took in a deep breath which dispelled into loud, wet raspberry sounds as he began to giggle, which made Noah and Sarah join in.
"Children's laughter, you love to hear it" The driver smiled.
Charity massaged her temples.
"Yeah, maybe not this side of 5am, though" She muttered.

Moses' face lit up like Christmas morning as they arrived at the airport and stepped inside. Just ahead of the doors was a 20ft model aeroplane, which he attempted to climb upon, but Charity tugged him back and kept hold of his sticky hand.
There were already hundreds of people zigzagging their way around the departure desks, each waiting to drop off their hold luggage. Charity began to kick herself for not paying the extra fee for fast track passes as they joined the back of the queue.
"We're gonna be here ages" Noah groaned after five minutes of standing in the same spot.
"I need a wee," Moses shouted out. Charity rolled her eyes.
"Take your brother to the toilet"
"Can't he go by himself?" Noah asked, shifting his weight from foot to foot.
"Uh, no, Noah, he can't, because he's five years old"
"You take him, then"
"Alright, I'll take him, and in the meantime, you can take yourself back home, and the rest of us will see you in a week"
"What? No,"
"No, I thought not. Now, take your brother to the toilet"
Noah took Moses' hand and disparagingly headed towards the toilets, which had just as long a queue as the departure desk.
Charity and Sarah attempted to shift their four suitcases along as the queue finally started to move on. It had been a long time since they had gone away together, and it was the first time that Charity was attempting it alone. Now that Noah and Sarah were older, maybe not yet mature, but mature enough, it seemed like the perfect time. Moses was a whirlwind of a child, but by no less means still only a child. Playing in the pool, building sandcastles at the beach and eating sweets and ice cream was all the entertainment he needed. He would tire himself out during the day and was sure to sleep through the nights, and Sarah and Noah could keep an eye on him should she need a couple of hours to herself. She was sure everything was going to work out fine. A drama-free, maybe even boring couple of days in the sun was all she wanted.

Noah and Moses managed to find their way back to the family a few minutes later, and luckily more desks had opened up and the queue was moving faster. It wasn't long after that that they found themselves next in line.
"Good Morning, thank you for waiting" the check in girl greeted them as they grouped together at the desk. "Can I see your boarding passes and passports please?" She added, smiling robotically. Charity popped open the folder she'd had tucked under her arm and passed each of the kids their passports. Moses grinned up at the lady as she checked his ID, and complimented him on his lovely white teeth. Each of their passports were checked over and handed back to them as the suitcases were loaded onto the conveyor belt. As the first of them was whisked away, Moses knelt onto the belt, giggling in the hopes that he too could be taken for a ride beyond the black curtains.
"Moses, get down!" Charity boomed, yanking him so hard that he lost his footing and began to swing from her arm like a monkey in a tree.
"When will we get on the plane?" He asked with a pout, fingering Noah's suitcase as it was loaded up to be taken away next.
"Soon, alright? We just have to make sure all our stuff gets on there first so it doesn't get left behind," Charity explained.
An older woman behind them tutted as the child began to climb upon the conveyor belt again, scuffing his trainers in the process. This made Charity more annoyed than her son's behaviour. She turned to glare at the old woman, who looked down at her watch to avoid eye contact.
"What? He's just an excited little kid" Sarah blurted out before Charity had a chance to say a word to the old battleaxe. The woman looked at Sarah and opened her mouth, but closed it again, opting to stay quiet. A good choice, Charity thought.
Once all the cases had been weighed and taken away, they were free to head upstairs to security.
Noah and Sarah tackled the bag that contained all their electrical items, and started to load them up into the large grey trays provided, whilst Charity popped their liquids into sealable bags, and instructed Moses to take off his cap and put it into the tray.
Two large men waited at the body scanner, with an array of weapons and handcuffs attached to their belts. Noah was ready first and one of the security guards waved him down to the scanner.
Noah shrugged his shoulders, his arms cold now that he stood under the air conditioning, in just his t-shirt. As he stepped through the scanner, the light upon the metal archway remained green and he was free to collect his things on the other side. Sarah followed after him, and met him at the end of the table to reclaim their belongings. They quickly stuffed it all back into their bags as Charity sent Moses through the scanner.
"Why do you have a gun?" Moses asked the guard closest to him. The guard looked down at his belt, making sure the child's pointed finger didn't touch the weapon on his hip.
"To make sure no bad guys try to come through," He said sternly.
"How do you know I'm not a bad guy?" He asked, tilting his head and thumbing his belt loops as if he were holding up a holster.
Charity held her breath, imagining the complications her little boy's questions could cause. But the guard's face brightened up and he let out a small laugh.
"I can tell" He answered,
"How?"
"Because you're wearing a spiderman shirt, and spiderman is a good guy, so you must be a good guy",
"I am," Moses beamed looking down at his t-shirt for good measure.
"If you see any bad guys, you be sure to let me know, ok?" The guard said with another smile. Then he looked up at Charity and motioned for her to come through.
"Sorry, about that" She offered her apology.
The guard shook his head.
"He's fine. First time at an airport?" He asked
"Yep, and I'm starting to wish I left him at home" She joked. The security guard laughed as they both spotted Moses darting across the room, shooting invisible spider webs at those around him, before colliding with Noah and almost knocking him off his feet.

There was plenty of time to spare before the gate opened, Sarah wanted to hang around duty free to smell all of the expensive bottles of perfume on display. Noah eyed up the video games in one of the airport stores and Moses insisted on buying a plush toy and spent ten minutes finding the one with the least amount of fluff around the eyes. Charity vowed to get herself a drink as soon as they happened upon a bar.
Information for their gate flickered on a large television screen half an hour later.
"Gate 6" Sarah pointed out as she found their flight number halfway down the screen. Luckily, gate 6 wasn't in the back and beyond of the airport and was just a short walk down the corridor.
Beside the gate was a cornered off play area for children, with a film playing on a flat screen TV.
"Can I watch Toy Story?" Moses asked, tugging at Charity's trousers and pointing to the play area, where Woody and Buzz were exploring Pizza Planet.
"Yeah, go on. You pair go with him, make sure he doesn't run off anywhere" Charity said as she took to one of the seats outside the gate.
The kids left their bags piled beside Charity, who pulled her phone out of her pocket to check her messages.
A text had come through from Debbie not long after they'd arrived, so she let her oldest daughter know that they had arrived safely and checked in, and assured her that she had everything under control, at least for the time being.
Other passengers joining them on their flight arrived and began taking up the remaining empty seats. To one side of her was a group of rowdy boys who were clearly heading out on a stag weekend to Magaluf. To her right came two women similar in age to herself, and a little boy around Moses' age. Charity adjusted herself in her chair as they approached and took up the empty seats beside her.
Both women were blonde and had similar features, sisters she guessed, though their face shapes was where their similarities ended.
The younger woman was taller, and wore even more eye makeup than Sarah had caked on. The other wore none, and was radiant, it seemed nobody in the whole vicinity was as tired and irritable as Charity felt.
She watched as the woman tried to praise her son from her side as she pointed at the play area.
"Look, Johnny. Buzz Lightyear! Why don't you go watch with the other kids?" She suggested with exaggerated excitement. But the small boy shook his head and buried himself deeper into his mothers lap. Charity gave the woman a small smile as they caught eye contact.
She had bright blue eyes that glistened under the fluorescent lighting above their heads. Her lashes were long and dark and fluttered as she blinked. She had a kind face, but a mischievous smirk played on her rosy lips. Charity could feel herself staring, wondering who this hot blonde was and what she did in life.
She could have spent such a long time just looking at her, taking in her effortless beauty. It seemed the mysterious woman herself was in no hurry to avert her own eyes either, as she raised an eyebrow, scouring Charity's face and giving a quick once over to her body. Charity took a deep breath in, sucked in her gut and sat up straight, playing it off nonchalantly as she felt those blue eyes lingering upon her. But the fleeting moment between the two was quickly interrupted by Moses who came crashing towards them with a plastic aeroplane that he had found in a toy box.
"Look," He screeched, shoving the plane in Charity's face. Charity almost went cross eyed as she tried to push the toy away from herself before a wing had the chance to poke up her nose.
"Yeah, nice. Now take it back, it's not yours" She told him.
"I can play with it though," Moses instructed her.
"Yeah, but not out here. Take it back to the play area. And why don't you ask that little boy if he wants to go with you?" Charity whispered to him, glancing to the family beside her as she spoke.
Moses looked at the little boy who was still sitting in his mothers lap.
"Look what I got!" He said proudly, showing off the purple plane.
"Wow, look at that aeroplane, Johnny," The mother gasped.
Johnny smiled shyly behind his fingers.
"Do you want to play with it, with me?" Moses asked him.
Johnny stayed silent but nodded, and slowly jumped down to his feet.
"My names Moses," Moses announced as they tottered off to the play area together.
The two mothers watched as their sons threw themselves onto the carpet and began picking up other toys, babbling about their favourite colours and toys as if they'd known each other for a lot longer than two minutes.
"Thank you," The woman said as she turned to Charity with a smile.
"No problem, your lap looked like it could do with a break" She joked.
The woman threw her head back and sighed.
"He's so shy at first, my Johnny. It's hard to get him to make the first move when it comes to playing",
"That's alright, my Moses is the opposite, he'll talk and play with anyone" She breathed. "I'm Charity, by the way",
"Vanessa, and this is my sister, Tracy"
"Hi," Tracy beamed, glancing up from her mobile.
'Vanessa' Charity repeated the name in her mind, it suited her.
As she fell into a trance, she almost missed the small, perfectly manicured hand held out in front of her. She jumped with a startled half laugh and took Vanessa's hand, shaking it. Her own hand was warm and a little sticky from holding onto Moses, Vanessa's fingertips however were cold and firm as they clasped around her wrist.
The three women then began chatting about their morning and their journey to the airport. Charity told them all about Moses' less-than-ideal conversation with the security guard, and Vanessa told Charity about Johnny's excitement to ride in an aeroplane for the first time.
Mid conversation, the gate opened and it was time for the boarding process to begin.
"Sarah, round up the boys, we're going" Charity called out to her granddaughter.
"Johnny, come on. It's time to go" Vanessa quipped over the wooden fence.
"I'll go get him," Tracy announced, leaving her seat to hop the play fence.
"Right, well, this is us" Charity breathed, feeling a silence slither over her and Vanessa as they stood awkwardly looking at one another.
"Us too," Vanessa replied as she swung Johnny's backpack over her shoulders.
"Oh, yeah. Of course, yeah" Charity muttered as she looked at Vanessa again and wondered if the ocean would be as clear and beautiful as her eyes. She shook her head and pulled herself back to the here and now as their two little ones threw down the toys they had been playing with and raced back to their mothers.
"Did you have fun?" Vanessa asked as the boy's red cheeked and panting, stood giggling and pointing at the real life size plane now visible outside the window.
Johnny nodded, Moses yelled 'Yes'.
"Alright! Now, say bye-bye" Vanessa instructed.
Johnny pouted and lifted his little hand to wave.
"Bye," Moses said, quickly throwing his arms around his new friend, then he reached up and took Charity's hand.
"Lovely to meet you," Vanessa said with a smile, looking up at Charity who towered over her by half a foot.
"You too. Have a great holiday" she replied, a little downbeat as Vanessa and her family joined the fast track queue across the corridor.

Gate six was on the ground floor, so once their tickets had been checked, Charity and the kids made their way down the tunnel and were shown out through big glass doors.
"It's huge," Moses exclaimed as he tilted his head up so high that he almost fell backwards in astonishment at the sight of the aeroplane in front of them.
Sarah and Noah barged each other's shoulders with small smiles of their own as they moved towards the steps of the plane.
Charity was just happy to finally be boarding. With the stress and the hanging around at the terminal over, she was more than ready to finally unwind and relax.
"How does it stay in the air?" Moses asked as he took a good look at the wings of the aircraft.
"I have absolutely no idea, son" Charity answered truthfully, and pushed him along towards the steps.

An air hostess greeted them at the door of the plane and showed them to their seats with a point of her finger. Charity always found this unnecessary, it was obvious where their seats were, what with the aeroplane being nothing but one big, long tube.
Moses took the window seat in 12A, and Charity sat beside him. Sarah and Noah sat in the row behind them.
"Where's Johnny gone?" Moses asked as he stood upon his chair, looking all around for the little boy he was missing. Charity craned her neck and glanced around for sight of Vanessa and her son, but didn't spot either of them.
"He's on here somewhere" She replied, "Maybe you'll see him again when we're coming back home" she added, following that up with a look that told him to get down.
Everybody buckled up their seatbelts as the aircraft began to creep along the runway. The air stewards double checked that everybody was strapped in tightly, and began to perform the safety demonstration. Moses looked out of the window and giggled menacingly as their speed picked up.
"Ready? We're going to start flying in a minute" Charity told him. Moses squirmed in his seat with excitement.
The plane drove faster and faster down the runway, with a loud whooshing sound that started to fill the cabin. The wheels of the plane picked up from the ground just as it felt like they were running out of runway space. The force of take off pinned the passengers to their seats. Moses clutched onto Charity's hand as his grin faltered for a second, his ears popping and ringing as they rose higher off the ground.
"Look, we're flying!" Charity announced, pointing at the fields that were now hundreds of feet beneath them. Moses whipped his head towards the window again and laughed heartily as the shadow of the plane raced along the green grass below as they ascended higher and higher up into the sky.
When the drinks trolley came around, Charity welcomed a nice cold beaker of white wine. The clear plastic cup dented and bent at her lips as she took a small sip, but it trickled down her throat just as refreshing as it would have from a glass. "Now the holiday begins" She muttered under her breath.