‘Only a tiny way to go now.’ Sofia pulled off her mini rucksack. ‘Let’s have another water break.’
‘Oh yes, let’s.’
The three of them drank in silence for a few moments before Sofia pulled out her phone.
‘Let’s get some nice shots of you two. You can use this in the blog, Char. Stand there.’
Maddie forced a smile as she put her arm around Charlotte.
‘That’s it! Cheese, ortirias we say here!’
‘We? Is she becoming Greek after one night with lover boy?’
Charlotte tried to suppress a laugh.
‘Shhh. Just do as she says so it’s over quicker.’
Sofia clicked away and moved backwards to get an even better shot, far too near to the edge in Maddie’s opinion.
‘Careful, Sof. Not so close.’
The next second she’d disappeared from view completely. Only sea and sky were visible where a diminutive dark-haired woman had stood a second earlier.
They ran as one to the edge.
‘Sof!’
Charlotte had her hands over her eyes, so Maddie had to be the one who peered over to confront the worst.
Instead of seeing a body flayed over the rocks, blood everywhere, Sofia was on her bottom on a wide ledge only a couple of feet down, laughing her head off. Maddie’s heart stopped slamming in her chest.
‘Someone give us a hand up, will you?’
Charlotte reached for her friend and hauled her back up to the path, with Sofia still laughing.
The three of them collapsed onto the ground together and even Maddie was helpless in the face of her friend’s mirth. They sat and giggled while several walkers gave them strange looks.
Maddie was the first to recover.
‘Have you damaged anything?’
‘Just my pride. I’ll probably have a sore bum for a couple of days.’
‘You were lucky.’
Maddie put on the voice she used with the care home residents.
‘That was a silly thing to do, wasn’t it?’
‘Yes, Miss.’
‘You’re not going to do it again, are you?’
‘No, Miss.’
‘OK, and a more difficult question. Just where the hell is this mystical village?’
Sofia’s expression became shifty and there were more looks at Charlotte before she pointed to a collection of white buildings only a couple of hundred metres away.
