Wish You Were Here

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.