Bending down to retrieve a bottle of sparkling water and a carton of milk, she was gripped with a sense of foreboding. Marina was determined to address her again and Stella, trapped, was doomed to have to listen.
Sure enough, after stuffing the water and milk back in the bag, she glanced up and the artist was on the bottom step, staring at her.
‘What do you want?’ Stella heard Louise say icily. ‘Can’t you leave us alone?’
‘I need to speak to Stella,’ Marina replied calmly. ‘It’ll only take a minute.’
‘Don’t—’
‘It’s okay, I can handle this.’
Stella rose and touched Louise lightly on the shoulder.
Slowly, she started to descend, past Will and Jon, who had their backs pinned to the wall. She felt as if she were being pulled by invisible strings.
On reaching the final step, Marina made way for her and they stood face to face on the ground. Marina’s intense, deep-set eyes were like bottomless wells, filled with strange meanings.
She seemed older today, with heavy frown lines and dark circles. Her olive complexion had lost its glossy sheen and appeared thin and dry.
All of a sudden, Stella no longer felt frightened. Marina was just a woman, for God’s sake. And she looked like she was in need of a good night’s sleep.
‘Hi.’ Stella gave a half-smile, neither friendly nor hostile but somewhere in the middle. ‘Did you want to say something?’
Marina nodded. ‘Thank you for waiting.’ She sounded relieved. ‘I’m sorry but I must give you a warning.’
‘Oh for fuck’s sake!’ Louise, who’d followed Stella down, wasn’t one to mince her words. ‘This is getting ridiculous. Can you please leave my friend alone? She doesn’t want to hear your stupid warning or anything else you’ve got to say. She’s absolutely fine, thank you very much.’
Marina blinked a few times, but her gaze remained fixed on Stella and her expression didn’t change.
Despite the fact that her heart was pitter-pattering, Stella felt curiously composed.
‘Tell me,’ she said softly, her eyes glued to Marina’s.
‘No!’ cried Louise, but Marina nodded almost imperceptibly.
‘You must be careful of the sea,’ she began. ‘I sense danger.’
‘What? Drowning?’ Stella said shrilly.
Marina shook her head. ‘I don’t know. Possibly. Or some other peril. I urge you to be watchful. Keep an eye on those around you – and be careful yourself.’
Louise gave a derisive laugh. ‘What great advice! You’re on a beach holiday but don’t go in the water or let anyone else, for that matter, because of some supposed danger that doesn’t even exist. What are we meant to do? Stay indoors for two weeks? How absurd!’
‘I didn’t say that,’ Marina replied patiently. ‘I just said be careful. Take sensible precautions – and make sure your loved ones do, too.’
Louise snorted again. ‘Can you be more specific? I mean, which one of us is doomed? It would be useful to be told.’
‘I don’t know,’ Marina said earnestly. ‘It’s not clear. But my intuitions are normally right.’
Jon coughed and everyone turned to look.
‘May I ask, where did you get your special powers from?’ he asked in a formal voice, feigning professorial-style interest. ‘Is there a course you can go on? Can we all sign up?’
He was being sarcastic, of course, but Marina took him at face value. ‘I was born with them, I think. I started having premonitions when I was a little girl. I soon worked out what they were and realised they were mostly accurate.’
‘Mostly?’ Jon added. ‘It must be a bit annoying for people if you tell them something’s going to happen, then it doesn’t. It can’t do your reputation much good.’
Marina shrugged. ‘I don’t care about my reputation. Not in the least. If someone chooses to ignore me because I’ve made the odd mistake, that’s their business. All I can do is report what I’ve seen.’
‘Well, thank you for your report; now we need to get home,’ Louise said, slightly less angrily. ‘Stella, you go first; we’ll follow.’
Stella breathed heavily as she trudged up, and her mind was filled with disturbing images.
Everyone said Marina was a complete fraud, and they were no doubt right. So how come she couldn’t put her words out of her head?
