Dreadful thoughts chased one another in George’s mind. “Why didn’t anyone tell me about this?”
“We didn’tsee you.”
And he’d been hiding in the office, debating selfish things, planning how to “manage” her.
He turned back to Joanie. “Did she have anything with her? What was shewearing?”
“I can’t remember, her linen trousers, I think, the light blue ones, and a white shirt.”
“Noluggage?”
“No. Oh, she had a vest and shorts, I think, in hertote bag.”
An icy fist clenched in his gut; he knew where she’d gone.
OceanofPDF.com
FIFTEEN
Two hours later. The Isthmus, 7pm
George propped his bicycle against the railings overlooking the waves, then stood at the high end of the isthmus and scanned Le Cou. That’s what the islanders used to call Blue Sage Bay, what his grandfathercalled it.
It fit.
If La Canette was the swan, then the isthmus was its long, slim curving neck. It led to a small head, the tiny hill which cupped a little beach. His grandfather joked that the cove was the swan’s open beak drinking the sea. George pushed back the bittersweet memories as his eyes followed the jetty from the sparkling sea to the edge boardwalk on the hill where the cottage stood.
The gently rolling green-and-lilac hill was thick with flowering bushes and long grasses. If Millie was on the hill, he should be able to see her even from this distance—as long as she wasn’t lying down. Pushing away thoughts of hard rocks and broken ankles, he scanned farther towards the cove. Blue Sage Bay looked empty. How in hell do you spot a woman wearing white and blue on a white-and-blue beach?
She had to be there. A certainty, deep in his bones, told him this was where she must have come. But where was she?
Leaving the bike, he set out on foot over the isthmus as the land tapered to a narrow strip that connected the island to the small headland a mile away. The wooden railings had rotted and collapsed in several places. Broken slats had fallen off on either side to the sea twenty feet below. Urgent worry churned in his gut and pushed him to hurry even as the dangerously narrow path forced him to walk slowly. His feet dislodged loose earth and scree, which went cascading down intothe waves.
This walkway should have been repaired and the land shored up to stop it eroding. Except that his father had no interest in maintaining this part of the Island. George, too, had neglected it, content to keep people away from his beloved Le Cou.
Well done, George.
Pride had kept both him and his father from coming here. In his case, also grief, rage and a deep guilt, but mostly it was his pride. And his pride had now put Millie’s life at risk.
Careful not to lean too far, George peered down, searching the jagged rocks and rising tide below him. The image of Millie fallen, drowned, tore at his insides. He looked up for a silent prayer when—
Hello?
A tiny movement, a figure? Or was ita seagull?
He couldn’t see properly because the middle part of the isthmus dipped lower, almost to sea level. He quickened his pace, impatient to get to the higher ground ahead.
Millie woke up feeling cold. The sun still shone in a blue sky behind her, but the wind had picked up while she dozed after her swim. Her clothes lay under a stone.
She looked around, but there was no one. She quickly stripped off the now dry and salt-encrusted vest and shorts she’d worn for swimming and put on her underwear. Parts of her chest, stomach and arms showed where the sun had caught her, turning her skin a deep, warm copper. Little fine hairs on her thighs gleamed gold against her browned legs.
It had been a scorching day, but far in the distance, dark clouds were piling up on the horizon. Weather coming. She pulled on her trousers and pushed her arms into the sleeves ofher shirt.
Shaking sand out of her thin cotton vest, she stuffed it deep into her bag. She set off towards the hill above.
Blue Sage Bay had been everything she imagined and a lot more besides. Her tote bag was full of cuttings: pink fireweed, camomile, thyme, chickweed and hop clover... The place was an undiscoveredparadise.
When her feet finally reached the high ground, the sun was low in the sky, just above the piled clouds, time to go home.Not yet. She couldn’t resist turning around for one last look at the idyllic cove. She perched on a rock, brought her knees under her chin and let the minutes trickle by. The waves, now higher with the rising wind, crashed on the dazzling white sand where she’d spent a healingafternoon.
