‘OK.’
‘So, please let me pay for a few treats now you know everything, starting with this meal. It really does give me pleasure. Us enjoying ourselves is a poke in the eye for them… and my dad.’
‘“Zig-a-zag ah!”’
‘Final warning, Mads.’
‘OK. And, of course, it means we can go to the posh, poncey places you like a bit more often.’
Sofia smiled a sad smile.
‘Yes, there is that as well.’
‘Fine by me.’
A couple of waiters had appeared behind Charlotte.
‘I am afraid we must close the restaurant now, as we will be arriving in port in a few minutes’ time.’
Sofia clocked that they were the only three people still there, sitting in the half dark. Out of the windows were the lights of another Cycladic island, another harbour, with dark hills rising up behind.
‘Of course. Can I pay please?’
‘Certainly.’
Sofia rolled up the mascara-stained serviettes and placed them on the next table while the waiter fiddled with the card machine.
Charlotte wagged her finger.
‘Naughty.’
The Tannoy announcing the ferry’s arrival and calling for all passengers getting off to make their way down to the hold was deafening in the restaurant.
‘Ow!’ Charlotte put her hands over her ears.
Sofia rose to her feet.
‘We need to go and get our luggage. New island, new start, here we come!’
There hadn’t been much to look at last night in the dark, and they’d all fallen into their beds, wrung out and more than a little drunk after their emotional meal on the boat.
Maddie pulled open the voile curtains on another gorgeous day, the sun already high in the sky and the azure seashimmering and beckoning far below. She was pleased to see that their rooms were simpler this time round. Her one housed just a big wooden bed with white sheets and a blue bedspread folded across the end, a freestanding wooden stencilled wardrobe and a bench seat. The blue tiled bathroom was similarly basic, with a compact shower, toilet and sink, a far cry from the ultra-luxurious bathroom of the first hotel, with a shower which could have fitted the three of them in.
Outside the French windows there was no fancy terrace with a plunge pool, just a balcony with a small table and two chairs, plus a fabulous view. She’d been too tired to close the olive-green shutters last night, so the sun had already laid its palm on her bed, slicing the sheet into sections of gold.
Stepping out onto the balcony was like stepping onto a filmset, and she gasped as she looked down. Unlike the previous island, there were plenty of trees below her, pines, firs and even oaks, and the sound of cicadas trying to attract mates was as loud as an alarm clock. It was hard to believe it when people told you that every Greek island was totally different from the next, but on the evidence so far, she was sold. They’d only travelled three hours, but this could be a different country.
The starkly beautiful, but barren hills of the first island, with its jagged edges of brown against blue, had been replaced by softer contours, topped with leafy green points. It was much closer in look to where she lived, a village outside Manchester, which still had both feet firmly planted in the countryside.
The metal of the bistro style chair she chose was hard against her back, and Maddie retrieved one of the cushions she’d seen piled up on the wooden bench seat to put behind her. She was warm enough in her short cotton nightie and flip-flops, but she wrapped a fine wool pashmina in pink paisley tightly around herself, given to her by her son for her birthday last year. It madeher feel a little bit closer to him. Not that he wanted to be close to her.
Seated with her feet up on the railings, she was startled by a little bird who landed on the table beside her. Unafraid, his beady little eyes watched her closely. She wasn’t sure why she assumed it was a he, but it just looked male and a trifle cocky.
‘Sorry, I don’t have any food,’ she whispered, making a mental note to find something in a local supermarket.
Wildlife had been one of Tony’s loves, and together they’d walk the hills of their beloved Pennines on their days off, identifying birds from their song and looking out for particular species to tick off in theirBirds of Britainlog, which she kept firmly tucked away from prying eyes. She could just imagine Sofia’s reaction.
The bird in front of her still hadn’t moved and was pecking at the holes in between the metal flowers of the table design.Determined little thing, aren’t you,came into her mind.
