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‘You are not like them. I mean...’
Maya took pity on her confusion. ‘I wouldn’t mind an hour or so’s break,’ she admitted. ‘But Mattio hasn’t had a nap yet or—’
The girl dropped down beside the chair where the baby kicked his legs and continued to chew on a teething ring. ‘Me and the bambino will be fine, you go, or I will be in trouble.’
Maya nodded and Rosa beamed. ‘Shall I call Rafael?’
‘No, it’s fine, I’ll find my own way.’
The girl looked doubtful. ‘It is in the below part of the castello, in the cellar. There are lifts, which are quite well hidden.’
‘I’ll be fine,’ Maya promised.
Had she actually intended to take advantage of the pool she would have accepted the services of a guide. The castello was a warren of rooms and corridors and even making her way to the dining room for breakfast she had got turned around twice, but she intended to head outside to explore the oak woods and maybe even the vineyards beyond.
As she made her way through the parkland heading towards the wooded area she saw the elderly gardener in the distance and waved cheerily at him as he waved back enthusiastically.
It was good to be outside. She might have escaped the luxury of the castello, but the thoughts in her head were less easy to escape. She speeded up, ignoring the jeering voice in her head that was playing on a loop...You can run but you can’t hide.
She didn’t slow until she reached the trees. To her relief there was a definite pathway and she felt confident that she wouldn’t get lost. The confidence began to ebb as the trees got denser and began to close in on her, but the path was still clear even though it was darker here, so she pushed on, breathing in the pungent scent of warm earth underfoot. Several times she imagined she heard rustling, and once a flicker of movement in the periphery of her vision but, peering through the branches, she saw nothing.
She was actually on the point of turning back when the trees began to thin and the path opened up into a small clearing. She let out a small cry of delight, and had crouched down to examine the tiny flowers that carpeted the floor when she heard a snap of twigs and a snuffling sound.
She froze, this time knowing it was definitely not her imagination. She wasn’t alone.
‘Is somebody there?’What are you going to do if someone says yes?that voice jeered again.
Run!
She huffed out a laugh of sheer relief when out of the undergrowth a little pig appeared, furry and ginger with stripes down its back. Utterly charmed, she rose to her feetand approached it slowly so as not to frighten it.‘Hello there, little one, are you lost? Ooh, hello there as well,’ she added, moving forward, her hand outstretched as three more of the cute creatures appeared, making little whining noises.
She reached into her pocket to find her phone, as she had to have a photo of these, when a loud grunting and squealing behind her made her jump. She almost dropped the phone as she spun around expecting to see more piglets.
She froze. This was not a cute creature, though it might once have been. She knew she was looking at the adult version, and a prickle of fear made the hairs on the nape of her neck stand on end. The tiny eyes gave it a mean look as it stared at her past its long, hard snout, and the piglets started squealing even louder. The parent—mother?—started forward, letting out another angry snorting noise.
Samuele was petrified. ‘Do not run, Maya,’ he said as quietly as he could, struggling with the image in his head of her being run down within seconds.
Maya was frozen to the spot.
‘I can’t.’
‘Oh,cara, you can,’ he insisted softly, cold sweat slicking his skin as he watched her poised like a gazelle about to run. ‘Now, don’t make any sudden noise but start to back away from her very slowly.’
She began to turn her head to look at him. ‘No!’ His voice dropped back to a low, soft, soothing monotone as he emphasised, ‘Do not turn around or look at me, just keep moving backwards, perfect, perfect...very slowly...’
She clung to his voice like a lifeline, each calm yet emphatic syllable stopping her succumbing to total panic.
‘Samuele...’
‘You will be fine, I promise. I won’t let anything happen to you, but be careful and donotfall over.’ He had seen the damage a female wild boar could do in defence of her young; she might lack the tusks of the male, but she was fast and those teeth could inflict some wicked wounds. The idea of them tearing into Maya’s flesh filled him with a fear that was visceral in its intensity.
One of the piglets rushed towards Maya and he clenched his teeth against a groan as the mother’s angry squeals intensified—she was going to charge.
Without taking his eyes from the animal he reached down for the fallen branch his boot was balanced on.
‘Maya.’
She was shaking, her chalk-white pale face dotted with beads of cold sweat. Being paralyzed with fear had taken on an entirely new meaning.
