She knew it was too early to be talking about the map but she felt she had so much to prove, she had to make Bastian feel her presence here was necessary.
Bastian laughed in a kindly way, obviously surprised by this, then gave her a big hug. ‘Welcome toDominica,’ he said. ‘We’ve got other things to sort out before we have time to think about maps and petroglyphs. Although we will need to worry about them soon.’ He frowned. ‘For now, we have the hurricane to deal with.’
A yellow dog, a bit smaller than a Labrador but with the same benign expression, came up and greeted the party with a smile. ‘This is Friendly,’ said Bastian.
‘He certainly is.’ Cass had crouched down and was stroking and petting the dog. It was comforting to have an animal to interact with, and she liked Friendly immediately.
‘In England dogs have names like George or Sparky,’ Cass said. Friendly thrust his nose into her hand, demanded that she should go on stroking him. ‘But Friendly is better.’
‘He just turned up here one day and so I kept him,’ Bastian said. ‘We saw the hurricane out together.’
Cass took a moment to wonder what it would be like, shut in a small space with only a dog for company, listening to a hurricane tear the world apart outside.
‘Cass needs breakfast,’ said Ranulph after a moment. ‘In fact we both do.’
Bastian held out a welcoming arm. ‘Ranulph, great to see you. Come into the house and we’ll sort you out.’
The house was full of people doing things. There was a cheerful woman in the kitchen stirring a pot with one hand and pinning up her hair with the other. She was wearing a bright headscarf and lots of jewellery with her jeans and T-shirt. She gave Cass a big smile.
‘This is Delphine,’ said Bastian. ‘She keeps me in order. This is Cass.’
‘Hello, darlin’!’ Delphine said to Cass. ‘You hungry?’
‘I am actually,’ said Cass.
‘Sit down and I’ll give you a proper Dominica breakfast – or the nearest thing we can get these days! Blasted hurricane, eh?’
Cass, who had been feeling very shy and out of place, found herself relaxing over tea with evaporated milk, cornmeal porridge and more bananas.
‘We have plenty of bananas,’ said Delphine. ‘They grow all around here.’
The porridge was strange but tasty; after eating it, Cass was caught out by a huge yawn.
‘Were you seasick?’ asked Delphine.
Cass nodded.
‘And you got up early?’
‘Before dawn,’ said Cass.
‘You’re tired. Get some rest. There are camp beds in that room,’ said Delphine.
And with just the right amount of bossiness, she guided Cass to somewhere which seemed to have several functions: storeroom, bedroom, study. Here she found her and Ranulph’s backpacks.
Guiltily, because she was only too aware of the bustle and business going on around her, Cass took off her jeans and got into her sleeping bag.
She was asleep almost immediately, tired after a short night, two uncomfortable sea crossings and a lot to absorb.
She awoke two hours later feeling restored. Shestretched, got dressed, then tucked her backpack under a desk. The camera her father had given to photograph the petroglyph with would probably be safe there. It wasn’t particularly valuable but it was very special to her father. She thought the map would be safe in the secret compartment of her day bag, so she just kept the waterproof envelope Eleanor had lent her under her T-shirt. After she had found the loo, washed her face and brushed her teeth, she went out to see what she could do.
Bastian was in the middle of a circle of people looking to him for guidance. Cass couldn’t see Ranulph and so joined the circle.
‘Can I help with anything?’ she asked when she could get a word in.
‘Not unless you can drive my pick-up,’ he said, seeming stressed and obviously expecting her to say no.
Cass smiled in relief. Here was a challenge she was capable of meeting. ‘No problem. I can do that. I’ll need someone to show me where to go, though.’
