‘I know,’ Cleo mouthed back.
‘You’re fine,’ she said softly to Tash. ‘It’s just shock. There was an earthquake but it’s over. There might be a few aftershocks, though. That’s normal.’
She put an arm round Tash’s waist, another on her upper arm and coaxed her up to sitting.
‘See? Now, put your arms round Maya’s and my shoulders. We’ll support you.’
Still shaking violently, Tash slowly rose to her feet, wobbling like a newborn lamb, but her friends took most of her weight and she soon began to walk a little more confidently.
The crowd on the landing was thinning as Henrietta stood at the top of the stairs, supervising an orderly exit. Mark had gone first to lead the way.
‘Is she injured?’ Henrietta asked anxiously, referring to Tash. Henrietta’s face was a mass of fretful lines.
When Cleo said she thought not, Henrietta sighed with relief.
‘I know Noreen’s hurt and most people have got bumps and bruises, but I think that’s the worst of it, thank God.’
‘What aboutyou?’ Maya wanted to know. ‘And Mark?’
‘We’re OK. We need to make sure everyone’s safe and accounted for.’
As she headed downstairs, Cleo felt as if she were walking into a battle zone. There was dust and debris everywhere: broken paintings, vases, lampshades, ornaments, books and bits of furniture.
Some of the windows had smashed and they had to pick their way across the uneven floor, avoiding shards of glass and chunks of plaster. A few cracks in the walls suggested the very foundations of the building might have shifted, and sparks seemed to be coming from the kitchen.
It dawned on Cleo she was lucky to be alive; they all were. The villa could have collapsed, killing everyone inside.
Mark and Henrietta led the group to the open lawned area where only yesterday they’d had a yoga class. Here, they were well away from walls, trees or power lines.
Cleo held Tash’s hand the whole time until Tash sat down with a bump and wrapped an arm round her knees, clutching onto Cleo’s pyjama bottoms with the other hand. Her breath came in little gasps. Cleo could see her lips moving silently, not in prayer, she thought, but because she was counting, trying to ground herself.
‘You all right?’ Cleo murmured.
Tash nodded, then shook her head.
‘I’m still shaking all over,’ she admitted, laughing weakly. ‘Ridiculous, isn’t it?’
‘Not at all,’ Cleo replied. ‘You’re in shock. Your body’s doing what it’s meant to do. It’ll pass.’
‘I can’t stand this helpless feeling, like it’s all going to collapse and there’s nothing I can do,’ Tash said in a small voice. ‘It was like this when Alfie died. I used to wake up in the night, shaking. It’s the same feeling now, as if the world’s turned against us and wants to destroy us all.’
Cleo touched her friend’s hand lightly, in the way she’d once comforted frightened patients.
‘The earthquake’s over now, Tash. The big one’s over. Just aftershocks now.’
Tash’s mouth twisted into a small, unsteady smile.
‘You sound like you’ve done this before.’
‘Not exactly,’ Cleo replied. ‘But I’ve been through worse nights when I worked as an emergency nurse after I’d done my training.’
Henrietta was carrying a large plastic container with the words FIRST AID on the front, which she placed on the grass near them.
Once she and Mark had done a head count and established no one was missing, Mark said he’d run back to the house to turn off the water and the main gas valve.
‘Can’t it wait till help comes?’ Henrietta pleaded. ‘It’s not safe in there.’
Mark frowned. ‘It’ll only take a minute. We can’t risk an explosion.’
