As she walked along the tow path, her eyes studied every boat that she passed. They ranged from ancient-looking, weather-beaten timber craft, some lying quite low in the water, to modern fibre-glass luxury cabin cruisers with powerful engines.
Selmira stopped walking when she spotted a “For Sale” sign on a reasonable-looking craft. Impressed, she noticed a tall, good-looking man on the boat, polishing brass handrails. He noticed her look of interest.
“Would you like to look around her?”, he enquired.
Selmira did feel a little uncertain as she was trying to avoid conversation with strangers in this large city. Putting these thoughts to one side, she replied, “Yes, please, I’d like that.”
The man took hold of her hand to steady Selmira as she stepped onto the boat and, from there, onto the rear deck. The man led the way into the cabin, while she looked closely at the fittings as she walked through the tidy, well-furnished living space. “How old is she?”
“I’ve had ’Elouise” for only four years. I bought her when I was single, but I am engaged to be married in a few months time and my future wife doesn’t want to live on the water.”
“Oh, that’s a shame. She’s really nice and you have kept her in good condition. How much are you asking for her?”
“A hundred and fifty thousand not including mooring rights.”
Selmira felt that the price was, probably, quite reasonable considering the condition and quality of the modern craft, yet she resisted the urge to make an impulsive decision, preferring, instead, to think in depth about her own position. “The price is reasonable, but I would like to think more about it, first. Can you give me your phone number, please. I need to consider it properly.”
“Certainly.” It was noticeable that his smile slipped a little, probably disappointed that Selmira did not immediately jump at the chance. He handed her his business card. “I could probably be a little flexible on the price. What is your name?”
Not yet being used to her new name, she nearly gave her real name and, just in time, said, “Sarah.”
“I’m Geoff Farrington. Hope to hear from you soon, Sarah.” He shook her hand and escorted her off the boat. Selmira did find him quite attractive, perhaps in a slightly old-fashioned way, but had to resign herself to the fact that he was already spoken for.
She continued walking along the canal path towards her hotel, thinking about the possibilities of living on the craft she had just seen. Could it work? A hundred and fifty thousand was manageable, but would not leave much spare. Perhaps he would let her knock ten or fifteen thousand off for a cash sale?
As Selmira pondered all these possibilities, her journey along the canal passed surprisingly quickly and, before she realised it, The Premier Inn hotel was coming into view.
The receptionist greeted her as she walked through the entrance door. Marie, who had been the receptionist for the past five years, was friendly and had become used to Sarah, this slightly-eccentric woman who was staying for an unusually long time at the hotel.
She quite enjoyed her conversations with Marie, discussing generalities, yet, at the same time, always avoiding giving away too much personal information.
She did tell Marie about her walk back to the hotel along the canal path from the restaurant near King Edward Road, saying how much she enjoyed the walk.
“Why don’t you try the guided tour of the canals, if you are interested? There are two choices, thirty minutes or one hour. I’ve been on the longer tour and it was really very good.”
“I might just do that. It does sound a good idea.” Selmira realised that it would have been worthwhile to experience this tour soon after arriving in Birmingham.
Once in her own room, Selmira stripped, had a shower, dried and then climbed into bed. Her intention was to consider what she should do with her life, now that she had almost transferred all the money from her Natwest account into the new accounts. Yet, the guilt still weighed heavily on her. The thought of the terrible things she had done to Ivanko was never far away in her mind. At the house, she had been terrified by his regular hauntings, but, even a hundred and forty miles away from Manchester, the memories of what she had done to her husband still horrified her, creating nightmares which were nearly as bad as the hauntings. The fact that he had saved Selmira from being raped and probably killed by the soldier in Bosnia during 1995 weighed heavily on her conscience. She fell into an uneasy sleep, her guilt even intruding into her dreams. The man who had created the rift in her marriage, David Allinson, was also in her dreams, inviting Selmira to engage in wild, exciting sex with him. Selmira had to admit that David was a better, more considerate lover than Ivanko, yet this was still no reason to kill the man who had loved and supported her for so many years. She also had to admit that she had never stopped loving Ivanko, who deserved someone much better than Selmira. She wished that David Allinson had never become involved in her life, yet she must accept an equal share of the blame.
Selmira awoke in a sweat, her excitement and guilt making her head swim in frustration. If she had, somehow, managed to resist David’s attentions, she and Ivanko could still be enjoying their life together.
Throwing the cover off her sweating body, Selmira stripped off and headed for the shower. She stayed longer than normal, in a vain attempt to wash away her shame and guilt.
She had a breakfast of cereal and fruit juice, as she did on most days. The small fridge in the hotel room proving useful for storing both milk and fruit juice. The hotel did have it’s own restaurant, but Selmira had made a decision on the first day not to use it, preferring to use her room for breakfasts while taking other meals in one of the many restaurants around the city.
Taking a sip of apple juice, Selmira looked at the card she had been given by Geoff Farrington on the previous day. She liked the idea of living on such a craft, yet she thought carefully about her future life. Selmira knew from experience that the additional costs of living on canals or rivers could be quite expensive. Even maintenance of the boat could be a heavy drain on funds, as she had discovered from her earlier experiences on the Bridgewater canal in Sale.
A better solution would be to buy a small apartment in Birmingham, using the money from the sale of her house. Selmira knew that, somehow, she must find some paid work to provide a future income. It was a pity that she could not use her qualifications to seek employment at a National Health Service hospital, as this would put her in danger by revealing her true identity. She accepted that, whatever type of work she may carry out, it would probably be a low-paid manual or clerical type of work.
Following these thoughts, Selmira tore the card into small pieces, deposited them in the bin and decided to start seriously looking for somewhere to live.
She had been looking since her arrival in Birmingham, but she felt that her stay at the Premier Inn had been quite long enough. Selmira set out to look for estate agencies. It took a little while to find one, as there did not seem to be any near to the hotel. She entered the agency and walked, feeling quite nervous, to the desk. A man and a woman were talking on the phone, but another woman was scanning through records on a computer.
Looking up, she noticed Selmira and asked in her distinctive Birmingham accent, “Can I help you?”
“Yes, please. I’m looking for a one bedroom apartment, preferably not far from the canal.”
The woman did not sound very interested, probably because it was not a large, detached house costing well over a million with equally large fees. “To rent or buy?”