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‘What ifI’dfallen overboard?’
‘Then you would have found out for yourself.’ He slapped Ben’s thigh lightly. ‘It’s a good plan. We can stock up on some essentials before we go back over. Maybe some diesel? We could try to locate the generator and get the house power back.’
‘And some…rope?’
Aleksey had been thinking chocolate, but rope, he had to concede, was more interesting.
* * *
Chapter Forty-Two
Squeezy and Tim took the suggestion they fly back quite happily. They’d land in Penzance, pick up the car and then drive home. It was agreed they’d return back to Penzance whenever Aleksey and Ben wanted to be met.
Aleksey made a phone call to the agent, and extended the loan time.
For three more weeks.
The more he’d thought about being on the island alone with Ben, the more he’d liked the idea.
For some reason, when Aleksey told Squeezy the date he wanted to be met in Penzance, the moron appeared to be licking something and making scribbling motions in the air. Aleksey didn’t ask. He rarely did. Tim gave Ben a swift embrace and whispered something in his ear with a smile that Aleksey couldn’t hear. He made a mental note to ask about it later. Squeezy gave Radulf a smooch, held out his fist for a knuckle-rub with PB, then before either could object, kissed Ben and lightly punched Aleksey in the abdomen. ‘Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do, boss.’
‘I have entirely free rein then.’
Squeezy grinned, flung his arm around Tim and they disappeared into the tiny terminal.
For some reason, despite the bustle of a busy airport, it became oddly quiet.
After a moment, Aleksey turned gleefully to Ben. ‘I must go down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky; and all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by.’
Three pairs of eyes regarded him stonily.
‘Oh, come on!I must go down to the seas again, to the call of the running tide…? No? Okay. You can be very boring, Benjamin Rider-Mikkelsen. You have no poetry in your soul.’
Ben tugged the dogs to get them moving and began to walk towards the small supermarket. ‘There once was a Russian called wassock, who liked me to suck on his—ow.’ He dodged another assault. ‘When I took exception, he said objection—too slow, old man—and…’
‘Hah. You cannot complete it. You cannot think of anything to rhyme with bollocks.’
They’d come to the shop. Ben handed him the leads. ‘Stay.’ He went in. Then came straight back out and said, ‘Alcoholics.’
Left with the two vast dogs, Aleksey perched on a wall and wondered if he could buy an ice cream anywhere. Then he spied something else and thought about what he carried in his pocket.
He tied the dogs to a bicycle rack, good luck anyone trying to steal Radulf, and went across to the little red and white-signed building.
Ben was waiting for him with two large carrier bags when he returned. He was stony. ‘What do you not understand about the simple instructionstay? Where the fuck were you, and where are the fucking dogs?’
Aleksey was genuinely bemused. They heard a shout.
The bicycle rack was progressing nicely down the cobbles.
They made a few more stops and were still bickering pleasantly when they returned to the boat. As PB and Radulf scrambled aboard, claws skittering and paws slipping on the fibreglass deck, Ben put the bags down and glanced around. ‘It seems bigger now, without them…’
Aleksey smirked. ‘If that is your way of thinking to yourselfI am now about to put sail with an idiot and no one to bail us out of trouble, fear not, oh ye of little faith. It can be manned by only two.’
‘Yeah. I think that means two people who can actually sail, maybe?’
‘Ack, I brought you across great oceans safely.’ He pursed his lips and toed the wood of the jetty. ‘But we will motor back.’
Ben chuckled and began to load the kit. ‘You know, seeing as we’ve got three whole weeks, you could…teach me. To sail.’
