Chapter 11
Jessica didn’t message anyone the following day and tellingly, no one tried to contact her, either.
‘I wonder what time she’ll be back,’ Edie said to Ralph, on her left, when they were lazing by the pool in the late afternoon. Hannah and Mac were lying on her other side, both with their eyes closed.
‘Late, I expect,’ Ralph replied gruffly. ‘Any time will be too soon, as far as I’m concerned.’ He growled, like a dog guarding its supper.
Edie took a deep breath. ‘At least we’ve had a bit of a break from her. Maybe she’ll have mellowed on her trip.’
After a while, Hannah and Mac woke up in restless moods and Hannah announced she was going for a shower.
‘Coming?’ she asked Mac, looking all wide-eyed and fake-innocent. It was obvious what she was thinking.
Mac got up and followed her indoors.
Sometime later, Ralph said he’d had enough sun and wanted to read his book upstairs. Edie told him she’d do twenty lengths of the pool before joining him.
The task she set herself wasn’t really a chore at all. She enjoyed being out there on her own as the sunlight faded and she could watch the sky slowly change colour, as if by magic.
She was thinking how easy-going Ralph seemed, despite all the tension between the others, which had nothing whatever to do with them, and how well they were getting on. She almost wished their children could see them.
Back home, Ollie, in particular, would often tell them off for ‘bickering’. Once, he even asked Edie why she and Ralph were still together.
‘You don’t seem to make each other very happy,’ he’d commented.
Edie had tried to brush the comment off, but it had really stung, and Maisie had been on their case, too. Last Christmas, she’d given them a voucher for a well-known restaurant in central London.
‘You should book a nice hotel and make a weekend of it,’ she’d said. ‘You hardly ever do anything, just the two of you.’
Edie and Ralph had thanked her, of course, for her generous and thoughtful present. Neither had been in the mood for an overnight stay, however, and they’d deliberately timed things so they could catch the last train back.
Edie couldn’t help thinking both children would be amazed to see their parents now, being so relaxed and enjoying each other’s company. Not long ago, she wouldn’t have believed it either.
She used the outdoor shower to wash, before wrapping herself in her towel and padding into the kitchen. She was wondering what to do about supper.
Yesterday, April had persuaded them to buy some Cretan sausages, along with the chopped lamb they’d made into meatballs. The sausages were made locally, she’d explained, from free-range, happy pigs that roamed for miles over the fields and hillsides, munching on organic acorns, roots and fruits.
They were stuffed with sage, marjoram and thyme, as well as stamnagathi , a wild green leaf thought to increase longevity.
Her sales pitch had worked like a charm and Edie had promptly asked for two packs. They could grill the meat on the barbecue later, she thought, unless anyone objected, of course.
Meanwhile, a quick check confirmed there was just enough in the fridge for a mixed salad, which she promptly set about making. There was also a bag of brown rice in one of the cupboards and she put two cupfuls in boiling water to cook.
She was still in her wet swimsuit and, by the time she’d finished, she was cold and keen to go upstairs and get dressed. On spotting Jessica’s white flip-flops in the hall, however, she felt a stab of guilt.
Jessica was no doubt on the long journey home and would be tired. A friendly text at this point might cheer her up.
Hope all OK and u enjoyed Knossos. What time will u be back? See u later. Edie.
She couldn’t bring herself to add kisses, even though almost all her acquaintances, from the window cleaner to the doctor’s receptionist, normally received at least one from her.
The kisses had a habit of appearing all by themselves.
Maisie used to hover over Edie when she was writing to make sure she didn’t go completely mad.
‘You’re so embarrassing , Mum,’ she’d say. ‘It looks like you’ve lost the plot. You need to rein yourself in.’
By the time the two couples sat down for supper, it was nearly nine o’clock. Ralph barbecued the sausages, which were delicious, and they all had fruit for pudding, with the last of Katerina’s kalitsounia .
‘Let’s eat out tomorrow night,’ Hannah suggested. ‘We could spend the day at Sweetwater Beach and have supper in the village on our way back.’
‘Great idea,’ said Ralph. ‘We’ll be in our beach clothes, though. Will that matter?’
Edie took a sip of white wine before putting down her glass.
‘I don’t think anyone cares round here. Everyone’s so laid-back. What time shall we set off? Ten-ish?’
‘Perfect.’ Mac topped up her glass before refilling Hannah’s and his own. Ralph said he’d had enough for now.
‘According to my guidebook, there’s a café on the beach, but we’d better bring some snacks just in case.’
All of a sudden, Hannah let out a cry. ‘Oh my God! We’ve forgotten about Jessica. Shouldn’t she be back?’
Edie explained she’d sent a message, but when she picked up her phone, which was in the bag at her feet, she could see it hadn’t been read.
‘That’s odd,’ she said, with a frown. ‘It’s quite late. I wouldn’t have thought there’d be a ferry to Porto Liakáda at this time. Maybe she’ll stay in Chora Sfakion tonight. I’ll try calling her.’
The phone rang nine or ten times with no response. Edie messaged once more.
Hi Jessica, hope all’s well. Please call to let us know you’re safe. Are you staying another night somewhere? Edie.
The others had lost interest already and were talking about something else, but Edie had an uneasy prickling sensation in her gut.
‘I’m a bit worried about Jessica,’ she said, interrupting the conversation. ‘It’s odd she’s not answering her phone. What shall we do?’
‘Nothing,’ Ralph replied firmly. ‘She’s an adult; she’s perfectly capable of looking after herself.
You know what she’s like; she does what she wants when she wants, with little thought for anyone else.
She’ll have booked herself in somewhere and she’s probably stuck in a book right now, with her phone on silent. She’ll be back tomorrow, you’ll see.’
Mac nodded in agreement. ‘I always thought it was odd going to Knossos for just one night. There’s so much there, from what I hear.
My guess is she’s staying another night.
She’ll be OK.’ He chuckled. ‘To be honest, I wouldn’t fancy anyone’s chances if they tried to attack her. She’d make mincemeat of them.’
Ralph laughed politely at his friend’s joke, but Edie could tell he wasn’t greatly amused. Hannah, meanwhile, looked furious.
‘That’s the most stupid, sexist thing I’ve ever heard.’
Edie shuddered and Mac’s mouth twisted in a strange way.
‘Violence against women is as high as ever and it’s all around us,’ Hannah went on, glaring at her husband. ‘You should know that. It doesn’t matter how strong a woman is, if a man wants to hurt her, he will. You should never, ever make jokes about it.’
Mac seemed to shrivel into his chair; he wasn’t a big man and Edie could swear he lost several more inches in height and girth.
‘I-I’m sorry,’ he said with a stutter. ‘I wasn’t thinking. It was foolish of me – insensitive and wrong.’
Hannah’s eyes narrowed and she pursed her lips, as if she’d bitten into a lemon. Her husband’s abject apology might have come at the right time and knocked the wind out of her sails, but there was no way she’d forgive him yet.
‘Look,’ said Ralph firmly, sounding like a referee at a football match. ‘It’s late and there’s nothing we can do now. If we haven’t heard from her by about lunchtime tomorrow we’ll make a plan, OK?’
He looked round the group to garner support, and everyone concurred. The party was definitely over, however, and when Edie rose, the others copied, helping to clear the table in virtual silence.
‘Let me know if you hear from her,’ Hannah told Edie as they went upstairs. Ralph waited at the bottom to turn off the hall light. ‘I’ll keep my phone on. It doesn’t matter what time it is, I want you to wake me, all right?’
Edie said she would.
‘Promise?’
‘I promise.’
* * *
Edie had a bad night, tossing and turning, while Ralph somehow managed to sleep soundly beside her. Every now and again she’d check her phone, hoping for a message from Jessica, but none came.
At daybreak, when light started to peep through the shutters, she decided there was no point trying to doze off any longer so she rose and hurriedly put on some shorts and a T-shirt.
After splashing her face with cold water in the bathroom, she glanced in the mirror and was dismayed to see a pair of puffy, bloodshot eyes staring back at her, with ugly dark circles underneath.
Her hair was all over the place, too. She tried patting it down, but the curls sprang up again immediately, even tighter than before, as if to mock her.
‘Bloody hell!’ she muttered to herself, turning away in disgust. ‘What a fright!’
She tiptoed downstairs, so as not to wake the others, and put on the kettle, hoping several cups of strong coffee might sort her out. She was reaching for the coffee pot when someone spoke, making her nearly jump out of her skin.
‘Mac!’ she exclaimed, spinning round. He was standing just outside the kitchen door. ‘I didn’t think anyone was awake.’
Mac looked pale and tired and, like her, he’d obviously flung on the first clothes he could find – a crumpled navy T-shirt and shorts.
‘I hardly slept,’ he said, running a hand through his thick, messy hair. ‘Hannah kept looking at her phone, hoping you’d have heard something.’
Edie leaned back, her hands gripping the work surface behind, and crossed one bare foot over another.
‘Me too. I kept imagining the most horrible things. You know how the brain works on overdrive at three in the morning?’
He nodded.