Alice nodded. She knew.
‘But you have to undo it, Alice,’ Kerry said. ‘You can’t let it ruin your life and it will if you go on like this.’
The café door opened and a middle-aged couple walked in. They took a seat at the table next to Alice and Kerry and it wasn’t long before the man clapped eyes on Alice.
‘Hello, gorgeous!’ he said, giving her a lascivious wink.
His wife turned around and glared at Alice. Kerry was glaring at her too.
‘Okay,’ Alice said at last. ‘I’ll do it. I’ll go back to Kethos.’
Chapter 28
It had been a dirty, dusty day at the Villa Argenti and Milo had cut himself twice on shards of broken terracotta from the pots that had been smashed by the earthquake. They had spent most of the day chucking old pots into the wheelbarrow. They’d be recycled as crocks to place in the bottom of other pots when planting so that was some solace at least. Nothing was ever wasted in a garden – not by Milo, anyway. Mr Carlson would have had a team of workers come in and sweep everything up to take to a landfill site if he’d been around but Milo knew that even the most unpromising bits of rubbish could be turned into something useful in a garden.
The statue of Aphrodite was another issue altogether. She couldn’t be recycled. Milo was convinced she couldn’t even be fixed.
‘She’ll have to be replaced,’ he told Lander.
‘Mr Carlson won’t like that,’ Lander said.
‘I know,’ Milo said. ‘We’ll have to get a replica.’
‘What about the tourists?’
‘They won’t know the difference,’ Milo said. ‘Aphrodite is Aphrodite to them.’
But she wasn’t to him. This Aphrodite was special. His employer knew it and he knew it. They’d never find a replica that was good enough.
They got to work moving the pieces of broken statue. It felt strange. Milo almost felt like a surgeon as he carried the bits of body over to the wheelbarrow. It was hard and heavy work but they had soon moved the statue to the entrance gate.
‘What’s going to happen now?’ Lander asked.
‘The repair guy will pick her up,’ Milo said. ‘I gave him a call.’
‘What about Athena? And Artemis’s hound?’
‘He might be able to repair those on site,’ Milo said. ‘He’s going to take a look when he picks up Aphrodite.’
Lander nodded and the two of them went their separate ways as they did their best to tidy up the rest of the garden. They’d had to close it to visitors until it was safe again and Milo missed their idle chatter.
For a moment, he thought about the time he’d first seen Alice in the garden and how they’d chatted so easily to one another, sitting together on the white bench under the fig tree as if they were old friends. How sad he felt that he wouldn’t see her again – that bright smile and those kind eyes. He couldn’t help wondering whom she was smiling at now and if they knew how lucky they were.
He blinked hard, trying to dispel the image of Alice from his mind. He had work to do and he couldn’t be standing around daydreaming about a woman he was never going to see again.
* * *
That evening after work, Milo stopped by a little shop on the edge of town and picked up a bag of Tiana’s favourite sweets. She’d been having nightmares since the earthquake which seemed odd as she’d been so calm throughout the quake itself. It just went to show you that you could never second-guess how somebody was feeling just from their outward appearance, he thought, especially a little girl.
He hadn’t spoken to Hanna since before the earthquake and hoped that her home had survived without too much damage. As he rode up the track to her house, he saw, with relief, that it was fine.
The island had been lucky. This time. Geologists were always warning them that ‘the big one’ was on its way but what were they expected to do? Milo didn’t want to leave Kethos and it would take more than the threat of an earthquake to get him off the island. Besides, it wasn’t much safer on the mainland. If the earth was going to throw a tantrum then the islanders would just have to get on with it as best as they could. They were a tough lot and had learnt to live with the quirks of Mother Nature.
Getting off his bike, he walked towards the front door which – as usual – was open, the smell of a fine dinner wafting out into the air.
‘Hanna!’ he called, entering the kitchen.
‘Milo?’ she said, surprise in her voice as she appeared in the doorway.
‘I’m not late, am I?’ he asked.
She shook her head. ‘I wasn’t expecting you at all.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘Your brother – he took Tiana,’ she said and, as soon as the words were out of her mouth, Milo’s heart plummeted. ‘Didn’t he tell you? He said he’d told you.’ Her voice was high and anxious now.
‘No, he didn’t tell me,’ Milo said, raking a hand through his hair and leaving it sticking out at the side of his head so that he looked as if he’d been electrocuted.
‘Oh, Milo!’ Hanna’s hands flew to her face. She knew that the brothers were always fighting about who should take care of Tiana but nothing like this had ever happened before. ‘He told me he’d spoken to you and that everything was fine.’
‘He lied,’ Milo said through gritted teeth. ‘Why didn’t you stop him?’
‘But I didn’t know! And he’s her brother,’ Hanna said. ‘How could I stop him?’
Milo took a deep breath. He had to calm down. He was upsetting Hanna and it wasn’t her fault. His face was anguished and he did a funny sort of dance right there in the kitchen as if he didn’t know what to do or which way to go. The last ferry had left the island and there was no way of getting to the mainland tonight unless he took a little boat out himself and he’d never been one for seafaring.
‘I’ve got to go,’ he said at last, leaving the house.
‘Milo – I’m so sorry!’
‘I’ll sort it out,’ he called to her as he marched towards his bike, swearing under his breath.
It was a reckless Milo that rode home that evening – a Milo that wouldn’t have ridden like that if Tiana had been with him. But she wasn’t with him. She’d been taken from him.
He blinked hot tears from his eyes. He was not normally the sort to cry but his anger and fear had got a hold of him. He just wanted Tiana back but what could he do? Georgio had no right to come and take her without saying anything. It wasn’t fair on him and it certainly wasn’t fair on Tiana.
Had he even bothered to collect any of her things before dragging her off to the mainland? He doubted it, but just in case he had stopped by their house, Milo increased his speed. Maybe they were still there. Maybe Tiana had somehow managed to run away, causing Georgio to miss the last ferry. Maybe…
The front wheel of the bike suddenly skidded and a cloud of dust blinded him as he struggled to keep control. He lost control and the bike hurtled towards the rocky precipice at the side of the road.
Chapter 29
Alice was searching for the cheapest flight to Athens on her computer at home when the phone rang. It was her father’s nursing home.
‘Alice? I think you should come quickly,’ Sam told her. ‘It’s your father. He’s asking for you.’
Sam was there to greet Alice when she arrived half an hour later.
‘How is he?’ she asked as she walked into reception.
‘Not good,’ Sam said. ‘He had an uneasy night. He was calling out for you.’
Tears pricked Alice’s eyes. ‘Can I see him?’
‘Of course. He’s in his room.’
Alice took the stairs up to the first floor and ran down the corridor that led to her father’s room. She knocked lightly on the door and then went in. Her father was sitting up in bed, a blank expression on his face.
‘Dad?’ Alice was beside him in a moment, sitting on the bed and taking his huge hands in her tiny ones. ‘Are you okay?’
He didn’t answer but kept staring s
traight ahead. Finally, he spoke.
‘Where are they, Stella?’
‘Dad – it’s not Stella. It’s Alice.’ She squeezed his hands.
‘Where are they?’ he persisted.
‘Where’s what?’
‘The papers. The papers I signed.’
‘I don’t have any papers, Dad. I’m Alice.’ She frowned. What on earth was he talking about?
‘I shouldn’t have signed them,’ he said. ‘What have you done with them? I need to talk to Alice.’
‘Daddy – it is Alice. Look at me!’ But, even as she cupped his face in her hands, he didn’t seem to be focusing on anything.
It was then that Sam appeared at the door. ‘Everything okay?’ he said. ‘I heard raised voices.’
‘He keeps talking about some papers,’ Alice said. ‘He seems to think that he’s signed something. Do you know anything about it?’
Sam shook his head. ‘No, but I’ve heard him talk about it before. He’s been having these episodes when he doesn’t make any sense at all,’ Sam said as he stepped into the room and shut the door behind him. ‘And it’s hard to tell what’s real and what isn’t.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘Well, some patients have been known to create whole worlds which simply don’t exist other than in their mind. Like dear Mrs Plendign on the ground floor. She has whole conversations with her daughter, Rose, but she never had any children. Then there’s Mr Folger who talks about his brother all the time but he died over fifty years ago. To hear him, though, you’d think he was still around.’ Sam scratched his chin. ‘It’s sometimes impossible to know what residents are talking about. Maybe your father’s confused about something that happened years ago.’
Alice looked at her father’s pale face and picked his hands up again. She sat there with him for another hour until he fell asleep and she thought it best if she left.
The residents of the home were watching Some Like It Hot in the lounge. It was film night – one of her father’s favourite nights of the week – and he was missing it. Mind you, half of the people in the lounge had nodded off too.
Sam stood up from where he’d been kneeling beside Mr Keely. The old man had a habit of kicking his shoes off and then getting up and tripping over them but Sam had double knotted the laces this time.
‘Everything okay?’ he asked as he approached Alice.
‘He’s asleep,’ she told him.
‘I’ll keep an eye on him.’
‘Thank you,’ Alice said, turning to go.
‘Alice?’
She stopped as Sam caught up with her, the breathy sound of Marilyn Monroe singing I Wanna be Loved by You reaching her. ‘Yes?’
His eyes took on a wistful look and Alice swallowed. ‘It might not be appropriate for me to tell you this but I can’t stop thinking about you. You’re the most wonderful—’
‘You’re right, Sam,’ she interrupted quickly. ‘It isn’t appropriate.’ And, without delay, she made a beeline for the door, realising that she had to get home and book that flight to Athens right away.
* * *
Something was throbbing with pain but Milo couldn’t tell what exactly. He tried to move and winced. Everything seemed to hurt and he cursed to himself as he realised what had happened.
He lifted his head and instantly regretted it. He was still wearing his helmet but it felt like a cannonball on his head as he looked around and saw that he’d landed on a rocky ledge about twenty feet below the road. Where was his bike? He tried to sit up and cried out. He felt like a gigantic bruise. He only hoped he hadn’t broken anything. He was still miles from home and it was beginning to get dark.
Taking his helmet off and turning round, he peered over the ledge to where the land tumbled away towards the sea. There was nothing but rock and scrub but Milo soon spotted something else. His moped – his beautiful moped.
He swore to himself. He could see that it was totally beyond repair – its silver body broken and dying on the mountainside because of his carelessness. He sank back down for a moment and closed his eyes. Could the day get any worse? At least he’d been spared the fall, he thought. He could so easily have gone tumbling down the mountain too and could, at this very moment, be dying right alongside his moped.
‘Be thankful for that,’ he told himself as he got up with a groan and dusted himself down. His jeans were ripped and his jacket was torn but nothing appeared to be broken. He had to get off this ledge but his head was pounding and he couldn’t think straight so he stood for a few moments, listening to the distant hush of the sea far below then, reaching up to grasp the branch of an ancient tree, and hoping it would take his weight, he levered himself up from the ledge and scrambled over the rocks to the road above.
From there, it was a long, slow and painful walk to the nearest village where he managed to convince somebody that he wasn’t a complete madman and that he really needed a lift home.
As soon as he got back, he slumped onto the sofa in the living room and rang his brother’s number but, of course, there was no reply. Georgio wasn’t likely to answer the phone, was he?
The house was so quiet without his little sister and he sat staring at the empty yellow armchair that she loved so much and in which she wasn’t sitting. It was full of her dolls that she always refused to put away and he was glad of their silent company tonight. It was as if a little bit of Tiana was present in their glassy eyes.
He felt so hollow inside – as if a huge chunk had been cut out of him and he realised that it had been. Tiana was a part of him and he couldn’t bear to be without her.
Chapter 30
Alice still had a key to the family home but had never used it because she knew it would upset Stella who thought of the old place as her own home now. But, as the bus dropped her at the end of the road, she knew the time had come to have a good look around.
Out of politeness, she rang the doorbell and breathed a sigh of relief when there was no answer. It felt funny to enter the house without Stella there and, for a moment, she could almost imagine that the clock had spun backwards and that she was coming home from school.
How long ago it had been when Alice had last felt the warmth of a family. It had all started to unravel as far back as when Alice had been twelve. That’s when their mother had died from cancer and Stella had started to sink into her selfish ways. Their father hadn’t known how to cope with her and so had indulged her every whim and Stella had grown up thoroughly spoilt. And Alice? What had become of that twelve-year-old girl? She looked in the hallway mirror and her pale face stared back at her. She’d battled on, hadn’t she? Passing all her exams and then taking a job she didn’t like and moving to a place she couldn’t really afford. Then there’d been the trauma of moving her father into the home three years ago. Life had thrown more than its share of hardship her way but she’d never given up.
‘And I’m not giving up now,’ she said to herself as she walked down the hallway into the kitchen. She looked around in horror at the empty takeaway trays on the draining board and the pizza box which had been dropped on the floor. Was that the reason Stella wanted a kitchen extension, Alice wondered – so she would have room to make even more mess?
She looked around, deliberating where she was going to start. Where would her sister keep important papers? In the dresser? That would be pretty organised for her but it was a good place to start so she opened the two large drawers but could see there was nothing in there but takeaway menus and taxicab cards and a brand new mobile phone that didn’t look as if it had ever been used. Alice closed the drawer.
She walked through to the front room and tried the side cupboard but that only had their mother’s beloved collection of crystal glasses which their father had always forbidden them to use. At least Stella was respecting that particular wish.
She looked around the room, noticing a brand new laptop in cherry red sitting on the coffee table and an expensive-looking cashmere jumper flung carelessly across a chair. Alic
e stroked the soft grape-coloured fabric and hoped that Stella had found it in a charity shop but knew that she’d probably bought it full price from a boutique on one of her trips into London.
She moved through to the hallway and climbed the stairs to the bedrooms. Stella’s was easy to spot. It looked like a clothes shop explosion. There were jumpers, jackets and dresses strewn across the bed as well as the carpet. No surface was left bare. There were heaps of tangled jewellery – gold and silver chains unashamedly knotted together and brooches clambering over bangles. A whole city of glass perfume bottles jostled for space on the dressing table and glittering photo frames punctuated the gaps. Alice peered closely and saw that each perfect frame contained an image of Stella.
She opened the top drawer but soon discovered that it was full of underwear – expensive lacy underwear. The next drawer was filled with more jumpers – each so soft to the touch that Alice surmised that they must have been cashmere like the one downstairs. She frowned. How on earth was Stella paying for all these things when she refused to get a job? It was a question which Alice wasn’t sure she wanted answering.
She opened the third and final drawer. It was a jumble of tights and stockings and it was clear that there wasn’t anything paper-related to be found there.
As she stood back up to full height, something caught her eye. There was a little bedside table on which sat a pile of fashion magazines and Alice noticed a cardboard folder underneath. She crossed the room and picked it up, opening it to see what was housed inside and then she groaned.
She’d found what she thought she was looking for. It was a will. Not the kind of will drawn up by an expensive solicitor but one of those you can print from the internet and Alice was pretty sure that it wouldn’t stand up in court.
Wish You Were Here Page 20
