He nodded. ‘Come on, Friendly, time for breakfast.’
Loretta and her family arrived the following day. Cass waited with the others to greet them, and soon realised they were warm and humorous, and if they were a bit thrown by the lack of things they took for granted (‘You don’t have air conditioning? How do you manage?’)they didn’t appear snooty. Michael and Sylvie were equally approachable of course and so it wasn’t long before everyone was getting on brilliantly.
As she helped Delphine prepare the usual gallon of rum punch, she said as much. ‘They’re really friendly! It’ll be easy.’
‘Hmph,’ said Delphine. ‘You wait.’
While the new arrivals and Michael and Sylvie were sleeping off their lunch, Cass found the large pad of drawing paper she had purloined from Bastian and took herself to a spot where she could see the whole house. Now everyone was here, she felt at a bit of a loose end. But she had a plan to make use of her spare time.
Quickly she drew the outline, the different rooms and some background. Then she put in the people. She had never drawn people before but this was an experiment to see if she could do them. She got into it. She added detail. She made it so you could see the heated conversation between mother and daughter. She added Bastian in his study, ignoring the discussions about turkey and ham. She put Friendly at his feet, happily chewing a large bone with a bow on it. She put in herself sitting on the edge of the veranda with a huge pile of vegetables, a pile even bigger than the one she actually did peel and chop. Ranulph was there too, carrying a table over his head with one hand, with as many chairs as Cass could manage to fit in hanging off his arms.
When the real Ranulph came up behind her she jumped. ‘Is there no end to your talents?’ he said. ‘That’s good!’
Cass inspected her drawing with a critical eye. ‘I think I’ve stopped trying to get things right or to make my work look like someone else’s. Since I’ve stopped caring so much I’ve got better, I’m not afraid to try new things.’
‘Well, good for you!’
He seemed genuinely impressed and Cass’s heart swelled with pride for a moment.
‘I’ve bought you a present – notforanything – just a present. I want to give it to you now,’ he said.
He produced a crumpled rectangle from somewhere. ‘I wrapped it at home, which is why it’s looking so battered. Please open it. I’ve been worrying about whether it’s the right thing for ages.’
Cass tore off the wrapping. Inside was a small box and she knew, before she opened it, that it had watercolours in it. She was not disappointed. Twelve full-sized watercolours in a tin she could take anywhere. ‘Ranulph! We sell these at the shop, but I’ve never felt I could afford to buy one. Oh, sorry,’ she went on, ‘that’s probably a bit rude. I love it!’
After the tiniest pause for thought, she reached up and kissed his cheek. ‘Thank you!’
‘I’m so glad,’ he said softly, obviously delighted by Cass’s reaction.
‘Now I feel dreadful that I haven’t got you anything.’
‘There’s no reason why you should have bought me anything, but if you would take me to see the petroglyph,’ he said, ‘I’d love that.’
‘Of course! You told me it was disappointing for youmissing it the first time.’ She paused again. ‘I’ve more or less finished this for Bastian. Shall we slip off now? While everyone’s asleep? Otherwise someone is bound to want to tag along.’
‘Will you remember the way?’ asked Ranulph. ‘Should we have brought the map?’
Cass laughed. She was feeling very happy; she was going on an expedition with the man she loved and who she was beginning to believe loved her. ‘No, the map is engraved on my mind. We’ll be fine.’
Although the undergrowth was a lot thicker since Cass first came with Bastian, Toussaint and Austin, she found the path through the woodland quite easily. It was quite a long climb down through the forest on a path that, very many years ago, had been someone’s regular road. The man who used to see the petroglyph almost daily, long since dead, had left traces.
‘Maybe it’s because I did quite a bit of sketching, I sort of know where I am. Here, for example, is where I stayed behind and the others went on. Dad’s camera went flying just about now.’
‘What did you do?’
‘I lay back on the ground and closed my eyes and I heard water. Then there was a breeze and the sun shone down on to these rocks.’
‘And?’
‘There it is, the petroglyph.’
She spoke softly, as full of wonder as she had been the first time she saw the carved faces. If that was because Ranulph was so near her, almost breathinginto her ear, or because she could smell him, his soap, his own distinctive odour, she couldn’t have said. All she knew was that she wanted to make love to him so much she could hardly breathe.
She didn’t move but heard him clear his throat and felt him step back. Did he feel the same? Or was Becca standing between them again, invisible but almost tangible?
‘We’d better go back,’ she said, annoyed to hear a break in her voice. ‘It’s quite a long walk back up the hill to the car.’
‘Yes, let’s go. I’d like to take you to Scott’s Head and it’s a little way away.’
