13
The Mourning Lady
Stage one of Joan’s summer of excitement plan was a picnic out by Blue Point. As they headed up the cliff path, Grace straining as she pushed Joan’s wheelchair, Joan gave her an ongoing pep talk.
‘Look, I know it’s more about taking part, but there’s no harm in trying to win, is there? And if you can’t even push me up this path you’ve got no chance of winning the bike race up Melrose Hill.’
‘As long as I beat Jason King, I don’t really care,’ Grace said.
‘At the moment you couldn’t even beat me,’ Joan answered. ‘Come on, put your back into it. A little to the right here. There’s a rut that’ll catch the wheel if you stray too far to the left. They haven’t quite cracked disabled access on the coast path yet.’
Even though Joan’s wheelchair was one specially designed
