‘What’s at Scott’s Head? I didn’t go there when I was staying with that lovely family all those years ago and they gave me my first, whistle-stop tour of the island.’
‘It’s where the Atlantic and the Caribbean meet. It’s a particularly good place to see the sunset.’
‘Shall we stay and look for the Green Flash?’ Cass was pleased to be able to say something lighthearted, a bit frivolous.
‘Of course! It wouldn’t be right not to do it there. Mind you, if I’m ever anywhere remotely suitable on Dominica, I look for it.’
They stood in silence for a few moments, looking at the petroglyph, the primitive offering to the gods, asking them to ensure a reliable water supply. She couldn’t tell for certain, but she thought that Ranulph felt the same about this spot as she did. Finding it had meant such a lot for both of them, and being heretogether now felt as if they were somewhere almost sacred.
Neither of them spoke on the long climb up the hill to where they’d left the car. When they got in, Cass felt breathless, not so much because she’d walked up a steep hill quite fast, but for far less sensible reasons.
‘Seeing the Green Flash would make today perfect,’ she said, when she felt the silence was becoming too meaningful.
‘It is very rare.’
‘But think how amazing it would be to see it! It would be such a good omen.’
He glanced at her quickly. ‘A good omen for what?’
Cass definitely had something in mind but she was not going to tell Ranulph. ‘Oh, I’m not fussy. I’m always looking for good omens. They don’t have to be for anything in particular. Rainbows are a good omen, for example.’
Ranulph laughed. ‘Which is good because they are so frequent here. It rains so much.’
‘It’s a good system,’ said Cass, smiling.
He started the car and then they lapsed into silence.
It was quite a long drive down the coast to Scott’s Head. Although it was still daytime, Cass couldn’t help remembering how quickly the night came down. They had to reach their destination by sunset.
At last, they got there, parked the car and then walked along a narrow strip of land between two seas. They walked right to the end of the spit. On one sidewas the Atlantic, with crashing waves, and on the other, calmer and more blue, was the Caribbean Sea.
‘I recognise this from Dad’s photographs,’ said Cass as they looked back at the island, which looked magnificent. ‘It is such a perfect spot for photographs.’
‘Or paintings.’
Cass nodded. ‘It’s unusual, I suppose, to be brought up in a household where photography was considered the fine art, and anything using paper and colouring pencils, or even worse, paint, was slightly despised. Not that Dad stayed with us long. I think I was about nine when he left.’
‘Hard for a child.’
Cass shook her head. ‘It was fine, really it was. Hardest for my mum really. But we survived. She’s happy and fulfilled now.’
‘Oh look, it’s nearly sunset.’
‘I hope the clouds shift a bit,’ said Cass.
‘Trade-wind clouds. They’re very distinctive.’
‘But I’ll be cross if they get in the way of me and the Emerald Drop,’ Cass said.
Even without rare meteorological phenomena to watch for, the sunset was magnificent. Huge dark clouds stood out against an apricot sky and the rays of the sun shone down to the sea like strobes.
When Ranulph put his arm round her waist and pulled her close, Cass didn’t pull away.
Then it happened. The sun dropped down and for a split second there was a flash.
‘Oh my God,’ said Cass. ‘Did you see that?’
‘I did! How absolutely extraordinary. I never thought I’d see it.’
