AllFreeNovel
Share Us
God, what was going on?
She pulled back the bedclothes and climbed out, began to run and found him confronting her once more, his arms going round her, his head coming down.
This time Miranda closed her eyes without looking at him at all, and in the same strange, dreamlike way was back in bed. She lay still, listening, her eyes tight shut. This time she wasn’t looking at him if she heard him.
But the ward was still. Nobody moved. All she heard was the heavy breathing of the other patients, the sonorous tick-tick of the round-faced white clock on the wall, the distant sound of traffic somewhere in the streets round the hospital. She wouldn’t risk opening her eyes, though – she might see him again.
In the morning, as she faced her boiled egg and toast, she wondered if she had ever been awake in the night. Had she dreamt the whole thing?
Why had she dreamt of him kissing her? What did a kiss from death mean? But she would rather not know.
Later that morning her mother came to see her before she went home. To Miranda’s surprise she was not alone. The beautiful, black-haired girl walked with her. They were leaning on each other, moving slowly and carefully.
‘Miranda, this is Pandora Leigh, we’ve both been discharged – I gather you met her husband yesterday?’
The other girl smiled at her. ‘Hello.’
Shyly, Miranda said, ‘Hello,’ thinking how ravishing she was, what wonderful skin and hair, what luminous eyes.
‘Her husband has offered me a lift in their car, to get my train,’ said Dorothy. ‘I’m off back home right away. I’ll ring you tomorrow, maybe you’ll have news for me? Is there anything I can do for you? Book a flight, or a hotel somewhere?’
‘I haven’t made up my mind yet. The police don’t want me to go too far, I’m to stay in Europe, not go to Australia. In case they need me quickly.’
Pandora Leigh was sitting beside the bed, too. ‘Dorothy has explained your problem to me.’
‘You don’t mind, do you, Miranda?’ her mother interrupted placatingly. ‘We were chatting and it came out.’
Miranda gave them both a polite smile. ‘No, of course not, but I’d rather you didn’t mention it to anyone else, either of you.’
Pandora nodded. ‘Of course not. But . . . well, I wondered . . . we could offer you a job and somewhere to live, out of Britain, if you’re interested. I was going to be working as translator and courier, at our hotel, but the doctors want me to stay in bed as much as possible from now on, so we’ll have to get someone else to do my work. Does the idea of working in a hotel appeal to you?’
Miranda was surprised and uncertain. ‘Didn’t your husband say your hotel was in Greece?’
‘Yes, not on the mainland, though. On a small island. Delephores, in the Cyclades – the little group of islands between the mainland of Greece and Crete. It’s beautiful, you’ll love it.’
‘But I don’t speak Greek, I’m afraid, I couldn’t translate or talk to Greek people.’
‘That wouldn’t be important at first – you would be dealing with English tourists staying in the hotel, you see; and there will be plenty of Greek speakers in the hotel, who would help if you had a problem. You could have Greek lessons, too, I’m sure you would soon pick up enough to get by with. You would share a bungalow in the grounds with other members of staff, and you would have one whole day free every week, for whatever you wanted to do.’
‘It sounds wonderful, I’d love it, but I don’t even know how long I could stay – the police may want me to come back to London, any time, at short notice. And I have a broken ankle. My wrist is sprained, but it seems to be improving a little every day, I expect it will heal completely soon. But I wouldn’t be much use to you with a broken ankle.’
‘I expect we could find a way round that, you would mostly be working in an office, not needing to walk anywhere – but I don’t want to try to push you into it. Here’s a phone number you can reach me at until we fly back to Greece.’ Pandora pushed a little piece of paper into her hand. ‘Let me know if you decide you would like to come. The job will be open for the next two weeks. After that, we’ll have to find someone else.’
Her mother leaned over to kiss her cheek. ‘I think it’s a chance in a million. Be good, but above all be careful. I’ll ring you.’
Chapter Five
Terry Finnigan cradled the phone on his shoulder while he ran an eye down the order form in front of him on the desk, then spoke into the phone again. ‘That’s marvellous, Alex. We’ll be despatching them within a fortnight – they should be in Piraeus within a couple of weeks after that. I hope that date is acceptable to you?’
At the
other end of the line Alex Manoussi nodded, sunlight glinting on his hair, giving the thick black strands a blue shimmer. ‘Yes, that should work out very well. We won’t complete the contract before the end of next month so we won’t need the electrical equipment before then.’
‘Good, good. We haven’t got enough stock to despatch them any earlier, we shall have to make part of the order. I’ll see to it that it’s processed with speed. When do you go back?’
‘Soon, I haven’t fixed a date, I have some unfinished business here. My manager has everything under control in Piraeus, so no problem there.’
‘And I’m sure Mrs Manoussi is taking good care of your home. She’s such a wonderful cook, too. I’ve never forgotten that barbecue she made for us when our sales team were over in Greece. Out in your lovely garden on such a gorgeous day, and your views are breathtaking. But what I remember most is that amazing lamb dish, with the aubergines and rice, I’ve never eaten anything like it.’
