Unknown (21 page)

It was no good kidding herself. Vasco had locked her in this small stone prison and abandoned her. He wasn’t coming back, and she might never get out.

She felt sick. Apart from being so hot she found she was thirsty and craved for a drink. Her throat was parched, and she was beginning to get very frightened. Vasco’s fiery Latin temperament had a lot to answer for. What frightened her more than anything was the fact that no one except Vasco had any idea where she was, and when they missed her they wouldn’t know where to start looking. She could be locked up here for days. If she didn’t have a drink soon she didn’t know how she was going to survive, but there was no sign of a tap anywhere.

‘I’ll have to pace up and down,’ she told herself. ‘Keep moving, Minella, and try not to think about anything.’

Like a prisoner in a cell she marched from one end to the other, her chin held high, and she was subconsciously murmuring a prayer when she became aware of a strange, terrifying sound. It was all around, like an express train speeding towards her and shattering the silence which in itself had become something of a nightmare. She covered her ears with her hands and screamed, thinking she was going mad. A few seconds later she was literally thrown off her feet, as if the floor had become a rug and some unseen force had lifted it up and given it a good shake. She tried to clutch at the wall, but it moved away from her, bulging outwards and finally disintegrating with the pressure of the shifting roof. The whole place was about to collapse. Before she realised it was an earth tremor she wasted precious seconds staring in horror, too petrified to scream again. Then she clambered frantically over falling masonry, desperate to escape.

Dust choked her. The noise of sliding tiles and breaking timber deafened her, and she grazed her legs on the bricks as she scrambled over them, but she was clear of danger. She wasted no time looking back at the damage, but started to run as if demons were after her, making for the path up to the garden, and she was almost at the grove of candleberries when she heard her name called in urgent warning.

‘Minella, get away from the trees! There’ll be another one!’

She stopped in mid-flight, not knowing which way to run, and she was shouting for Vasco at the top of her voice. Suddenly the earth was sliding away from her at terrific speed and she was flung face downwards in the hot, black sand. The second tremor had arrived. And just as suddenly it was gone.

It was several minutes before she dared to open her eyes. In the aftermath there was silence until a flock of crazed birds burst noisily from the trees and soared into the sky. Then nothing. Two trees had fallen, felled like saplings, and the sun shone through a dust cloud which hung over them as they settled. She was afraid to move.

The sand was burning her legs and she sat up gingerly, still with the sensation of the ground moving beneath her, but everything was motionless, suspended in time. The hut behind her was not too badly damaged. Part of one wall had collapsed and the roof was tiptilted, giving the place a comical, drunken appearance. Minella gave a spontaneous giggle. She was a great believer in the power of prayer, but never had one been answered so quickly, or so dramatically.

But when she looked at the trees all humour vanished. If she had continued running she would have been crushed under the nearest one. If Vasco hadn’t shouted....

Vasco! She strained her ears for any sound, but there was none. She couldn’t have imagined his voice calling her. That was stretching miracles a bit far. He had been coming to let her out of the hut when the first tremor struck, and his warning had saved her life. Oh, God, where was he now?

She struggled to her feet, stunned by the way fear had been replaced by greater fear. A short time ago she could have cheerfully strangled Vasco, but he had more than compensated for the way he had treated her earlier, and anger was forgotten. She had been equally to blame for what had happened at the hut, and it served her right for making her request to visit it sound like an invitation. Not that she had meant it to for a minute, but Vasco was impressionable and his pride had been hurt. He had needed time to cool off. And now he must be lying injured somewhere on the other side of that barrier of trees. She had to find him.

‘Vasco! Vasco, where are you?’ Her voice splintered the silence.

She ran to the trees and started climbing among the dense branches. The first one was lying over a narrow fissure that had opened up above the shore line and as she clambered on it she disturbed the delicate balance. It rolled sideways, tipping her off, and she landed back on the ground, trembling with shock. She felt as if she was in some cruel obstacle race with defeat at every turn and it would have been easy to give way to useless tears. She fought them back, digging her fingers painfully into her temples, and tried to breath slowly to calm herself.

‘It’s all right, Sparrow. You’re safe now.’

It was Sam who picked her up. He had appeared out of nowhere. Drawing her gently to her feet, he folded her deep within his strong arms and murmured words of comfort to ease her agitation. One hand cupped the back of her head and massaged the tension spot at the nape of her neck with sensitive fingers until spasms of trembling became less severe. His mouth was against her hair.

‘It’s all right, my darling,’ he whispered. ‘It’s all over.’

She thought she must be dreaming. The tender words in that soft, heart-melting voice washed over her like a soothing balm and she closed her eyes with exquisite relief. The feel of him against her brought intense pleasure to every susceptible part of her body. She was entranced. Then he held her at arms length and there was an unbearable sadness in his eyes which held her bemused until his face was so close to hers she was aware only of his mouth within a hair’s breadth of her own. Her lips quivered as he touched them, exploring hesitantly, and she lost all sense of time and place. Her fingers found his hair, working upwards through thick, untidy curls to press into his scalp with catlike ecstasy. There had never been anything so perfect as that kiss given in the aftermath of fear and danger.

It was the reminder of danger that made her remember Vasco and she dragged her mouth away from Sam’s, twisting out of his arms before delirium made her forget completely. Later on, if these moments were reality, they could discover each other anew, but first Vasco had to be found.

‘Sam, we’ve got to look for Vasco,’ she said desperately. ‘He shouted to me just before the trees fell and I’m terrified he might be trapped somewhere.’

Sam gave his head a shake, as if to clear it, and his eyes hardened. He straightened his back.

‘Vasco is in the cottage being looked after by your brother and Annette,’ he said. ‘He didn’t shout to you ... I did.’

His voice was cool now, unemotional, and there was censure in the peremptory tone.

‘Oh, Sam....’ she faltered, bewildered by the sequence of events. ‘How did you get here? And what happened to Vasco? Is he hurt badly? Was it the earthquake?’

He permitted himself a smile. ‘Would you like me to answer that string of questions one at a time, or shall I relieve your mind first by telling you your boy-friend will survive?’

‘He isn’t my boy-friend. . . .’

Sam put his hands on his hips and scrutinised her sternly from under lowered brows. ‘Look, Minella, I’m not entering into any discussion. We all have lovers’ quarrels and get over them. Vasco told us what happened and I understand, so let’s leave it at that.’

He turned abruptly and started walking up towards the thickest part of the grove, but Minella darted after him, grabbing his arm.

‘No, we will
not
leave it at that!’ she stormed. ‘I want to know what he told you, and what you think you understand.’

Vasco had a lot to answer for, and wrong impressions had to be put right before there were any serious misunderstandings. Or was it too late? One look at Sam’s face and her heart sank. He stopped again and gave her his full attention.

‘We none of us act very wisely when we let our emotions run away with us, Sparrow,’ he said. ‘I can’t condemn you for ignoring my warning about Vasco Hernandez. He must be an attractive young man to someone your age. When I found you together on my boat I blamed him entirely, but perhaps I was being unfair now I realise you both wanted to be alone. And I’m sorry your plans went wrong today, but you could at least have bothered to tell us you were going out with Vasco and we would all have been spared a few worrying hours.’

‘You don’t know anything about my plans,’ she protested. ‘And if you’ve been listening to Vasco you really have got the wrong end of the stick. I had a special reason for wanting to come here. ...’

She broke off, checking the explanation that would have followed before any harm was done, because he mustn’t know she had been prying into his past life. Luckily he wasn’t curious.

‘Excuses aren’t necessary,’ he said coldly. ‘You’re old enough to be responsible for your own actions, and it was only natural you should want to spend your last day on the island with someone you ... are fond of. I’m not angry with you for your choice of companion, however misplaced I may think it, but the way you disappeared without a word was inconsiderate. Annette was worried sick when you couldn’t be found.’

So that was it! The reason for his beastly mood was that Annette had been upset. Well, three cheers! It didn’t matter any more what conclusions he had reached about her relationship with Vasco, she thought bitterly. He wore his tough, steely look as he categorised her, and he could go on thinking what he liked. The sooner she was back home in England and everything was normal again, the better it would be.

‘How did you know where to find me?’ she asked. ‘Did you immediately think of your little love nest by the lake?’

The barb was unkind and his eyes narrowed even further. Oh, Sam, she cried inwardly. What were they doing quarrelling? She wasn’t going to see him any more and she loved him so much, yet here they were having another slanging match and wasting precious time. If only he felt as she did! If only the clock could be turned back to that day on the boat when she had almost told him that she loved him; that beautiful, golden day just before Annette came back into his life. He would have laughed, of course, but at least he would have known.

It was no surprise to her when she admitted that love to herself once more. It had gone on just the same even when she had tried to shut him out of her thoughts and find fault with him. It would always be with her, but obviously Annette was the only woman he had ever cared for deeply and it remained to be seen what the future held for them both. She must just hope Sam Stafford would fade out of their lives again after tomorrow and they could all rest easy.

‘Your brother searched round the harbour and Annette tried the shops,’ he was saying, ignoring her last remark. ‘Then by chance Henrique Porva phoned me and said he’d seen you with Vasco. From then I had a good idea where you’d gone, though I could hardly credit it. I suppose this is an ideal place to bring a lover, but I’ve only ever lived here alone until the day you were brought here against my will and completely disrupted everything.’

Minella pressed her lips together, remembering all that he had done for her in spite of his initial objections.

‘Oh, Sam, I’m sorry,’ she began.

‘You don’t have to be,’ he said. ‘No experience is wasted in this world, and though you may not realise it you’ve taught me a lot.’

Her eyes widened with pleasure, incredulous that this self-reliant man could learn anything from her. ‘Have I? Have I really?’

‘Oh, yes.’ He stroked his beard thoughtfully, and the iciness in his eyes melted. ‘I’ve grown .. . fond of you, Sparrow. When I felt that first tremor and knew you were down here I couldn’t get to you quick enough. There’s always a second wave about forty seconds later, and you were running straight into the trees. I was petrified!’

His' gaze lingered on her, and though she was conscious of being dust-streaked and dishevelled it was irrelevant. She came closer to him, drawn by a magnetism too powerful to resist, and unable to look anywhere except into his eyes. In another second she would have fallen into his arms, her legs too weak to support her, but the charged moment was shattered by a shout from the other side of the trees.

‘Sam! Sam, have you found Minella?’ It was Annette. ‘Vasco’s nearly demented! Is she hurt?’

Sam turned instantly, a smile that she could only interpret as relief lifting the corners of his mouth.

‘It’s all right, Anne, we’re coming!’ he called, and went to take hold of Minella’s hand, but she snatched it away.

‘Wait,’ she said. ‘First tell me what happened to Vasco.’

The smile deepened as Sam looked at her with derisive amusement. ‘When you went cold on him he was pretty furious, as you know,’ he said. ‘It isn’t on, Minella, to lead a poor chap on like that and then change your mind, particularly one as impetuous as Vasco. He got his motorbike and scorched off for a ride round until you’d had time to come to your senses, but he was so preoccupied he drove into the back of an oxcart and landed up in a pile of straw. Unfortunately he sprained his ankle and we came across him hobbling back to the cottage, pushing the motorbike. I didn’t think he’d ever forgive you, but it sounds as if he might have done.’

Minella had started to walk alongside him, but she stopped in her tracks.

‘Oh!’ she cried, her eyes growing wide with exasperation. Then she remembered how she had felt about Vasco when he turned the key on her and a triumphant smile lit her face. ‘It just serves him right!’

Minella
stood gloomily among the brass fenders, books and bric-a-brac on display in the Brighton antique shop that belonged to her brother, her mood matching the cold, damp November day. Only five months had passed since their return from the Azores. It felt like five years.

She had never had the same interest in antiques as Greg or Annette, but she knew enough about them to be left in charge of the shop on the odd times when both had to be away, and this was one of them. They were attending an auction in London, but with summer gone, taking the majority of tourists with it, there was very little to do, and since she got back Minella had needed to keep busy. It was the only way she could stop thinking about Sam.