AllFreeNovel
Share Us
He relaxed under the heavy body. ‘Ack, you’d miss me if changed too much. I only do it because, as I have just pointed out, you are only a baby and—’ His body wouldn’t take too much more of Ben Rider-Mikkelsen treatment, Aleksey thought worriedly, as he was rib-poked until he almost couldn’t breathe. As a life-preserving measure, he finally gasped out, ‘So, rope…?’
* * *
Chapter Forty-Four
In the end they decided to put off the great climb until the following day because it was getting colder, neither of them had eaten any of the sandwiches and were both consequently hungry.
That they were also turning their minds to the inevitable result of wrestling and pressing their bodies together didn’t need to be spoken of. They were men; these things were obvious.
As they were walking back towards Guillemot, Ben pointed out, ‘We should get the dogs accustomed to the cliff. Just tying them up they’ll never learn.’
‘Good idea. I was thinking the bridge would not hold our weight, but it might hold Radulf’s. Then he could test it for us. If it collapses and he is stranded on the other side it would save on vet’s bills. Or we could lower him to that ledge with the eagles on it and leave him there overnight to acclimatise.’
Ben ignored his bullshit as always, but commented seriously, ‘I don’t think they were eagles. Seagulls maybe?’
Aleksey bit his lip but didn’t reply.
Ben, suddenly outraged, cuffed him, unnecessarily hard. ‘You bugger! Do you really think I’mthatdumb? You do! My God. I threw it in, just to see. Sheesh.’
Aleksey flicked his ear in retaliation. ‘Ack, you may be right, Ben, who knows? I am an expert on flowers, not birds.’
Ben suddenly seemed to recall something and smirked a little, but when questioned, would not reveal what had prompted this response.
Aleksey found out when they’d returned and the fire was lit and they were lounging in front of it, anticipating the pleasure soon to come.
Ben, who had nipped down to the boat, suddenly asked casually, ‘So do you want your present now? I’m not entirely sure you deserve it.’
‘Well, in that case, I will withhold yours.’
‘You didn’t buy me one.’
‘Ah, you didn’t see me buy you one, there’s a difference.’
Ben went for poker-face, but Aleksey saw this as the bluff it was. ‘So…?’
Ben rolled away and pulled the large bag he’d been guarding closer. ‘It’s not really wrapped.’
Aleksey dutifully peered in, not expecting the joked-about sex toy, but something along those lines. ‘Oh.’ He was genuinely taken aback, and glanced at Ben before cautiously, and with great reverence, withdrawing a telescope from some loose tissue paper scrunched around it. It was clearly antique, made of brass enclosed in leather. A foot or so in length when retracted, it could extend to three times this. Around the leather casing of the central section was a beautifully painted, decorative panel depicting all the nautical flags and their meanings.
‘They had it in the chandlers. It was found at the scene of a wreck on one of the islands here. It’s from the 1800s, they reckoned, possibly earlier. That’s why the flags are a bit scratched here and there. But I thought maybe you could get it professionally restored.’
Aleksey put it to his eye.
There was a cobweb in the corner of the room, right up on the curved ceiling.
He retracted and extended it, stroked a finger over the aged leather as he had done with the veins on the marbled fireplace. ‘No one has ever given me anything more…entirely perfect.’ He lay on his back and began to explore more things.
‘Lord of Light Island. You can take it up into the top of the lighthouse when we get in and monitor any incursions onto your new domain.’
Aleksey chuckled and held out his hand for Ben lie down next to him. ‘That had not immediately occurred to me, but now that you mention it… Come, try it.’
Ben found the same cobweb. There wasn’t much else to look at. Until he spotted something on the bookshelves that hadn’t been there before. He took down the scope, because he could obviously see better in the room at that short distance without, but before he could comment, Aleksey nodded. ‘Your present is not wrapped either.’
Ben got to his feet and went over and collected three books. Aleksey, who had come up behind him explained quickly, ‘I know it is not something you would ever want me to buy for you, but…I saw these in the bookshop. They were my favourites as a boy, although I read them in Danish, of course. I thought…you could try them…and if you like them I could maybe suggest others...’ He was struggling to make this present what he’d hoped it might be.
Ben was studying the covers. ‘A book about birds, one about steps and one about sheep? These were your favourites?’
Aleksey laughed, but only inwardly. ‘The Snow Gooseis a war story. TheThirty-Nine Stepsis a spy story andThe Shepherdis a story about a pilot. I…I thought if you liked them, then you could maybe read them to Molly. And you both could start filling this bookcase together—Molly’s library?’
