Wish You Were Here

Chapter 39



Milo hovered around Alice’s door for a while after having closed it, wondering if she would think of something that she needed. He wished she’d stayed and talked to him a little longer. It seemed too early to say good night.

Finally, he walked back through to the kitchen and tidied a few things up and prepared Tiana’s packed lunch for the next morning. It was as he was crossing the hall to the sitting room half an hour later that he saw Tiana. She was standing in the doorway to Alice’s room.

‘Tiana! Come away. What are you doing?’ he hissed.

‘Just watching her,’ Tiana whispered back. ‘She looks so sad. I think she’s been crying.’

‘You shouldn’t have opened her door.’

‘It just came open,’ she said.

Milo sighed but couldn’t resist joining Tiana at the bedroom door and looking inside, the hallway light falling softly on Alice’s face as she lay in bed.

‘She does look sad,’ he said.

‘What’s she so sad about when she’s here with you?’ Tiana asked.

‘She has a lot to think about at the moment.’

‘Like what?’

‘Well, her father’s just died and there are other things too.’

‘And she doesn’t have a big brother to take care of her like I do?’ Tiana asked.

‘No, she doesn’t.’

‘So you’re looking after her instead?’

Milo cleared his throat. ‘Something like that. Now, you should be in bed, young lady.’

‘Can I kiss her good night?’

‘No, you can’t.’

‘Are you going to?’

‘Go to bed,’ he said.

He escorted her back to her bedroom and, once she was tucked up in bed with the promise that she wouldn’t go wandering into Alice’s room in the middle of the night, Milo retraced his steps and popped his head around the door again and gazed at the pale face of Alice asleep in the bed. It was strange to think of her wearing his T-shirt and socks. Strange but rather wonderful.

‘Good night, Alice,’ he whispered, and gently closed the door and walked silently to his own room next door.

Alice awoke in the strange bedroom and looked across at the pale blue curtain through which the sunlight streamed. She had no idea what the time was so leapt out of bed and grabbed her watch. It was after ten. She’d slept for twelve whole hours.

As she drew back the curtain, she was instantly drenched in sunlight. Milo had been right about the view – it was breathtaking. The land rolled away in gentle hills and, there beyond a silver-bright olive grove, was the sea. Today, it was a deep sapphire-blue that almost hurt the eyes to look at it but Alice couldn’t tear her gaze away from it. It was mesmeric and she could easily imagine becoming obsessed with such a view and spending endless hours staring at it.

What must it be like to live somewhere like this, she wondered? To be able to look at the sea whenever you wanted to and to observe its changing nature, its myriad colours and its volatile moods swinging from calm and glassy to stormy and savage. No wonder Tiana and, indeed, Milo didn’t want to live anywhere else. Alice could totally understand that. A place like this became part of a person. It was the very breath you took, it was what filled your mind and your heart. It was an emotional anchor that gave you a true sense of who you were and where you belonged. That, Alice thought, must be one of the most satisfying feelings in the world and it was one that she’d never had.

Nipping quickly into the bathroom, she took a shower and got dressed. There was an old mirror above the sink and Alice glanced at her reflection. Her skin had paled since her last trip to Kethos and her hair had lost the warm highlights that the sun had graced her with, and her eyes were more pink than blue after her crying the night before.

Walking back through to the bedroom, she sat on the edge of the bed for a while thinking about all the possibilities that the future held and then she felt incredibly sad because the very thing that was giving her such opportunities had been the death of her beloved father and she wouldn’t have wanted that for the whole world.

She took a deep breath. She was going to get through this. She was going to sort out this whole Aphrodite business and then she would sort out her father’s estate. Then, she promised, she’d do something wonderful for herself.

Leaving the bedroom, she ventured through to the kitchen where Milo was making a cup of coffee.

‘Good morning,’ she said. ‘I’m sorry I slept so long. You should’ve woken me.’

‘I didn’t want to,’ he said. ‘I guessed you’d be exhausted after yesterday.’

‘Where’s Tiana?’

‘She’s left for school.’

‘Oh, of course,’ Alice said, realising it was a weekday.

‘Did you sleep all right?’

‘Yes, thank you.’

‘There’s plenty of breakfast,’ he said and Alice sat at the table and began to eat.

‘Don’t you have to go to work?’ she asked.

He shrugged. ‘The boss is still away and Old Costas is taking some leave so he can’t tell on me and I can catch up with things another time. Lander’s covering for me,’ Milo said.

‘I’m sorry I’m causing you so much bother,’ she said.

Milo shook his head. ‘You’re not,’ he said. ‘I told you I’d help you and I will.’

‘So, we’re going back to the sculptor’s house?’

‘As soon as you’re ready.’

Alice nodded and then she suddenly felt nervous which was silly, really, because this was the day she’d been so longing for – the day when everything would be back to normal. No more ridiculous male attention, no more bizarre declarations of love from complete strangers. She was going to return to her true self. The real Alice Archer.

‘You okay?’ Milo asked her.

Alice nodded. ‘I just want to get this all over and done with.’

‘And get home again?’

She looked up at him. ‘I – I guess,’ she said.

‘You’ve got a lot to sort out, haven’t you?’

‘Yes,’ she said.

He nodded again. His face was solemn and she couldn’t help wondering what he was thinking. He’d probably be glad to see the back of the strange English girl who kept yo-yoing in and out of his life. She’d done nothing but cause trouble and she wouldn’t blame him if he never wanted to see her again.

‘Okay,’ he said, his voice flat and devoid of emotion and his face a perfect blank. ‘Let me know when you’re ready to go.’ He left the room and Alice blinked in surprise. What had just happened there? Had she said something to upset him? She finished her cup of coffee and walked down the hallway to his bedroom and knocked lightly on the door. He appeared a moment later. ‘Ready?’ he asked.

‘I’m ready,’ she said and, like two strangers, they left the house in an uncomfortable silence.

How she longed to talk to him on the journey back to the sculptor’s house. There was so much she wanted to know about him but she felt as if he’d somehow closed down on her. Maybe it was because she’d said she was going home but what else could she do?

She looked out of the window at the barren, rock-strewn landscape. The road climbed higher and, for a few moments, the sea was lost to them. She opened her window and breathed in the sweet thyme-scented air. She wanted to say something – to share the moment – but Milo seemed so distanced from her that she remained silent.

When they reached the home of the sculptor at last, they saw that, once again, the gates were closed and padlocked. Nevertheless, they got out of the car.

‘Hello!’ Alice shouted and immediately set off the dog. She noticed that it was on a long lead today and she was thankful that it didn’t get any closer to her than it did. ‘Sound the horn,’ she told Milo.

He returned to the car and gave three blasts. It sounded so horribly loud in the silence of the countryside and it started the dog off again.

‘How are we going to get in?’ Alice asked.

‘I don’t think we are.’

‘There must be a weak spot somewhere,’ Alice said.

‘What do you mean?’

‘I mean – let’s get in there. It’s obvious we’re not going to be invited in so let’s find our own way in.’

‘What – with that enormous dog?’

‘He’s tied up.’

‘But he might break free!’ Milo pointed out.

Alice shook her head and started walking around the perimeter of the wall. The ground was dusty and stony and Alice twisted her ankle at one point. Milo rushed forward but she waved him away.

‘I’m okay,’ she said. ‘Let’s keep going.’

The wall stretched interminably and it soon became obvious that there was no entrance other than the one that was padlocked and guarded.

‘I’m sorry, Alice,’ Milo said, ‘but it looks like this isn’t going to work out as we’d hoped.’