‘It’s both,’ said Ranulph. ‘There’s the Caribbean side and the Atlantic side. There’s a place on the island where you can see both at the same time.’
Cass sighed, suddenly wistful for Dominica, wondering how much of the island she had seen and loved was left after the hurricane.
Ranulph had said he would drive them to Glasgow Airport. They would spend the night with friends of his who lived very near, leave the car there, and be ready to catch an early flight to Paris.
Suddenly, after a whirlwind of preparation, research, packing and repacking, it was time to go. Howard and Eleanor stood by Ranulph’s old Land Rover, which was now packed. Cass and Ranulph stood awkwardly by. A part of Cass didn’t want to leave. She wanted to stay in the comfort of the rugged Scottish island she had come to love. But most of her wanted to start the biggest adventure of her life.
Eleanor began the awkward process of saying goodbye. She put her arms round Cass. ‘Now, take care, follow your instincts and enjoy it.’
Cass hugged her back. ‘I will!’
Then Cass went to her father. He got an even longerhug. ‘I’m asking a lot of you, Cass,’ he said. ‘But I know you won’t let me down. Or Dominica.’
Cass wasn’t quite as confident but she hugged him again and didn’t speak. Suddenly, she was crying.
Ranulph hugged Eleanor and said goodbye, but shook hands with Howard.
‘Good luck, Ran,’ said Howard. ‘Make sure you take a lot of notes. And you, Cass, short for Cassiopeia, you take lots of pictures.’
‘I’ve got your camera safe,’ she said. The day before he had given her his precious Leica M3, paired with a 300-mm Zeiss lens he had adapted himself to fit. Although he had tried to appear relaxed about letting it out of his sight, Cass knew exactly how important it was to him. ‘But remember my photos won’t be anything as good as yours.’
Howard opened his mouth to argue, but shut it again. Everyone laughed; then, the tension broken, Cass pulled herself up into the Land Rover.
After driving in silence for quite a way, Ranulph said, ‘Penny for them.’
Cass wouldn’t have sold her thoughts to him for millions, they were so confused. Part of her was in awe at the thought of travelling halfway across the world with a man who made her heart lurch at the least thing. The other part wondered if she was mad. She didn’t know Ranulph. Her father trusted him, but was he a good judge of character? Although, having mulled over this thought, Cass realised that she did trust Ranulph. He wouldn’t make her feel awkwardor compromise her in any way. Why she was so sure of this, she couldn’t say.
To answer him she said, ‘My mother says that before you get together with anyone permanently you should find out what sort of traveller they are. Do you like to be at the airport too early for check-in, or do you leave it until the last moment and then stop off for a cup of coffee?’
‘What sort of traveller are you?’ said Ranulph.
‘I haven’t done much travelling but I think I’m the first kind,’ said Cass. ‘I know it makes me a very boring person’ – her ex-boyfriend had told her this – ‘but I just prefer it that way.’ She paused. ‘There was a hen do I went on a while ago – I was friends with the bride’s younger sister – when we nearly missed the plane to Ibiza. Everyone else thought it was hilarious, but I was dying inside.’ She smiled at the memory. ‘Everyone else also seemed to think Prosecco for breakfast was one of your five a day. I didn’t.’
‘In which case, we won’t breakfast on fizzy white wine, nor will we arrive for boarding ten minutes after everyone else has. Mind you, after the first bit of our journey, we won’t always be able to control things.’
‘Thank you,’ said Cass.
She now definitely trusted him but when would she stop having the dizzy, crazy feeling that she was in love with him? It made no sense. She hardly knew him. If she could have taken a pill, or had an injection, to stop this totally irrational feeling, she’d have done it. Otherwise, she realised, she just had to wait for the feeling to go away.
A little later he said, ‘Have you got the map? You know, the one your father and Bastian’s father made telling us how to find the petroglyph?’
‘Oh, that map!’ said Cass, flippantly. ‘Yes. It’s sewn into my clothes,’ she said.
‘What? Really?’
This made Cass laugh. ‘No! But Eleanor has put it in a waterproof envelope, inside another waterproof envelope, and it’s with my valuable documents. She put it in a secret pocket in my day bag with an invisible zip. I’m sure I won’t lose it.’
But the moment she had said that, she stopped being sure. She needed to check she had it. She turned round to get her daypack, finding it difficult to reach.
‘Would you like me to stop the car?’
‘Yes, please,’ she said, and once the car had come to a halt, quickly unzipped the pocket. She was relieved to see the envelope stowed safely inside. ‘Sorry,’ she said a few moments later. ‘I just had to check.’ There was something else she had slipped into that pocket which, while not really a secret, wasn’t something she wanted Ranulph to know about. It was her sketchbook. She was so used to keeping her hobby from her family, she didn’t tell Ranulph about it either.
‘That’s fine.’
Looking at his profile, Cass couldn’t quite decide if it was fine, or if he was irritated by her. It was going to be a very long journey.
CHAPTER FIVE
