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‘That he can’t afford an island?’
‘No, you stupid owner of an island, thathedoesn’t share your name.’
Ben gave him a rare private glance, acknowledging between them what this name sharing truly meant. Aleksey felt an intense surge of happiness at this and at the realisation that he’d finally left his old life behind him.
He would never have to worry about the Raidens of the world again.
They pulled out of the palace courtyard and Ben laid a hand on his thigh, stroking with his thumb as he so often did, driving thoughtlessly and automatically with one hand, which, ifhehadn’t been in such a good mood, Aleksey might have pointed out was not ideal for negotiating the Mall.
Neither of them felt like making the return trip to Devon that night, so they ordered in some food and watched a movie about sharks. Which was just fine, except that it also featured four people who had foolishly capsized their boat and had consequently been forced to swim from anislandto the mainland. And guess what wanted to join in that fun trip?
It wasn’t, in Aleksey’s opinion, the ideal film for two people who had just spent the afternoon doing what they had. But Ben wasn’t to be dissuaded. After zombies, shark attacks were his favourite entertainment.
The inevitable question did not get asked until they were in bed.
Aleksey had been expecting it and was impressed Ben had held out as long as he had.
When can we go?
When indeed.
His replytomorrow?was so was happily received that he capitalised on Ben’s enthusiasm for being in love with a billionaire island-owner for some hours.
* * *
Chapter Twenty-Six
Tomorrowturned out to be more figurative than literal. They returned to Devon in the morning, but very quickly realised that to make the first visit a real success they had to do a bit of planning. Aleksey knew there was a house on the island; Phillipa had admitted as much, although she had never been there. She’d seen one or two photographs of it, however, which were in the private family collection, and believed it was quite liveable in. Aleksey, however, remembered the state Barton Combe had been in before he’d battered it into shape with some of his considerable wealth, and knew therefore that her definition of habitable and his differed greatly. Consequently, he told Ben they needed to go prepared. Ben countered by reminding him of the weeks they’d lived in Horse Tor Manor virtually squatting, whilehehad healed from previous injuries. They’d coped well enough then with two army mats, sleeping bags and a bluey stove.
Aleksey just pointed out that they were both more sensible now and Ben had to agree.
Now, of course, there were six of them planning to camp, not just three as it had been then. Squeezy, once again, utterly refused to be left behind on such an adventure, and Tim, obviously, wanted to accompany him. The island, Aleksey was sure, was less an attraction to the professor than Michael Heathcote’s presence, which utterly bizarre preference, therefore, automatically ruled Ben’s friend out of being consulted on anything useful about the trip. And, of course, where Aleksey and Ben went, Radulf and PB did too. Although this decision did cause a little more mental toing and froing than the decision to include the humans had.
Although Aleksey had not put this thought to Ben, he was still not entirely convinced that some great catastrophe might not be awaiting them through this rash decision to change their current, smooth-flowing lives. They were only six months off from their last debacle, and he could go many, many years without something similar happening again and not be unhappy. But now he’d put events in motion he could not foresee. Although he was still of the mind that lightning only struck once, as with his thought about planes crashing, they were disaster magnets. It was an island, and it was, by definition, surrounded by ocean. He doubted he’d be subjected to another tsunami, but he could not entirely discount it either, despite Googling this possibility for the English Channel and being informed that such tectonic activity was extremely unlikely. Similarly, he was fairly sure there were no libraries on the island. So although Ben had just assumed the dogs would come with them, Aleksey was in two minds about it. Radulf and he were both still affected by their last adventure. PB too, if you counted an increase of scowl and a general suspicion of anyone coming towards him with a lead in their hands. Aleksey didn’t want the dogs put in danger. But if he admitted that, then he would have to also tell Ben of his fears forthem, which even he had to admit did seem a little paranoid. So he put it all to one side and agreed to the plan that all six of them would go. For a couple of nights only. He insisted on this. They would go, recce the place, and then return to regroup.
What could go wrong in a couple of nights?
The last thing they had to decide was how they were going to get there. Ben apparently took it for granted that they’d fly down once more and get someone with a boat to take them over and then come back for them when they were done. Aleksey pointed out that, for a start, there might not be phone coverage on the island—most likely wouldn’t be—and that, secondly, he didn’t want to push the terms of his non-disclosure so early in the purchase. He reminded Ben of the loquacious man in the shop, who clearly knew all the comings and goings of the previous owner and thought that such information should be common knowledge for anyone who might happen to ask.
Also, he didn’t want to be stranded on the island for any length of time. Ben never seemed to see similarities between movies and real life, but Aleksey had watched those great whites circling the unfortunate capsized boat, and his first thought had been, ‘Well, that rules out swimming back to St Mary’s then.’
So, there was really only one solution—they had to hire their own boat.
Aleksey was the only one who appeared to have sailed in anything smaller than a ferry on the North Sea, but even he admitted that he was…rusty.
This decided it. They balanced all their options and concluded that they would drive to Penzance, the large town on the mainland from which the ferries departed for the islands, and thus they could carry all six of them with all the kit they’d decided they might need. Then they would hire a boat and do the forty or so miles from there to Light Island. That part should take them about three hours.
Aleksey didn’t mention this to his three human companions, but he had some idea that if the navigation proved more arduous than he recalled from his childhood on Aero, then he would just follow a ferry…
* * *
The day they had determined to leave dawned cloudy and wet. It was almost summer, so this was only to be expected, but the weather did nothing to dampen their spirits for the first hour or so. Aleksey could feel the simmering excitement in the car. There was more arguing, more annoying each other than usual, not helped of course by the cramped conditions. Ben drove as always, andhegot the passenger seat, pushed as far back as it would go, because he had a bad leg and because, as he’d once rudely but truthfully pointed out to the professor, he owned everything and paid for everything. Tim, therefore, with the shortest legs had to sit behind him. He had Radulf next to him, and Squeezy gave value to his name on the other side of the vast dog. PB was in his crate in the boot, but this was piled high and jammed around with all the stuff they’d elected to bring, which for only six adventurers for two nights proved to be quite a lot.
They weren’t in the army any more. They were all used to a level of luxury none of them wanted to admit to.
Once they’d crossed the Tamar Bridge into Cornwall, the drive became even more fractious. The rain didn’t let up, and over Bodmin Moor they were in thick fog and had to slow to a crawl. The Cornish roads were not designed for a driver like Ben, and his frustration at being stuck behind caravans, and the consequent insane overtaking he did whenever a brief opportunity arose, made everyone tense.
Eventually, however, four hours after starting off, they arrived at their destination and drove straight to the harbour.
