Chapter 32
Australia
It was three hours before I heard from Harry again.
‘Please say you’ve found it,’ I said shakily.
I was all cried out by then, exhausted and angry with myself. I’d been down to reception and checked with housekeeping to see if it had been collected with the used linen, and I’d even been to the lost property at Circular Quay in case I’d left it on board one of the ferries, but no luck.
‘I wish I could,’ said a weary-sounding Harry. ‘But we’ve searched as much of Watson’s Bay as we could before it got dark, and there was no sign of it.’
‘Oh God, no.’ I couldn’t believe this was happening. How stupid of me.
‘Hey, don’t worry. I’ll have another look in the morning,’ Harry said optimistically. ‘Don’t give up yet.’
‘Thank you for trying.’ I reached for a tissue and blew my nose. ‘I do appreciate it.’
‘No problem,’ he said. ‘We’ve left messages at the hotels and restaurants, and if I hear anything I’ll let you know straight away.’
‘How could I have been so careless?’
‘You weren’t careless,’ he insisted. ‘Sometimes accidents happen. Don’t beat yourself up about it.’
‘I don’t know what I’ll do if we can’t find it,’ I said.
‘Maybe this is your sign to go home,’ Harry suggested. ‘You’ve been away a long time.’
That made me sit up straighter. I gripped the phone.
‘No. I’m not ready,’ I told him firmly. ‘I don’t want to leave yet, Bronte’s journey can’t be over. Not while I know she still had pages left for me to read.’
Harry remained silent on the other end of the line.
I wondered what was going through his mind.
It was different for him, I thought. He could travel for as long as he liked, should he so wish.
I had responsibilities to get back to. This was my one chance, possibly the longest break from the rat race I’d ever get until I retired.
I had to make the most of my sabbatical; and more than that, I had to keep following in Bronte’s footsteps and take the journey that she’d been so determined to take for herself.
‘But let’s say you don’t find her book,’ Harry said finally. ‘You won’t have much choice.’
He had a point. Except … I had a sudden flash of inspiration. Hadn’t Harry said he’d helped Bronte with her research?
‘You know!’ I said. ‘You know where she was going next.’
‘Um. I … Well, I guess …’ Harry’s voice faltered down the line. ‘I’m not sure I’ve got the details.’
‘Can’t you look on your laptop?’ I pleaded. ‘You must have some idea.’
He let out a long sigh. ‘Honestly, Maggie, I’d rather not.’
‘But why?’ I cried, frustrated. ‘Come on, Harry, you know how important this is to me, why don’t you want me to know?’
‘Okay, okay,’ he retorted. ‘Hold on. Let me think.’
I chewed my lip, not really understanding why he was so reluctant.
‘I do know the next destination,’ he said gently. ‘It’s actually her last one, but—’
‘Yes! Fantastic! I could kiss you,’ I gasped. ‘Where is it?’
‘It’s somewhere she was always fascinated with,’ he began.
I racked my brains. ‘She was obsessed with the giant turtles in the Galapagos Islands for a while. Is that it? Or Los Angeles? She wanted to see for herself if every waiter really was an actor waiting to be discovered.’
‘Neither of those,’ said Harry.
I detected a smile in his voice; he must have heard her talk about both those places too.
‘So?’ I prompted. ‘Where is it?’
‘Bali,’ he replied simply. ‘She planned to go to Bali.’
I stared at the phone, speechless. Of course she’d want to go to Bali.
I pressed a hand to my chest as emotion hit me in waves.
‘I want my Bali moment,’ she’d told me. And quite literally, she had planned to have it.
My life had changed beyond recognition since I’d last been there – I was a different person now and I couldn’t imagine how I’d feel to be there again.
But it looked as if I’d be finding out very soon because, courtesy of my daughter, I was going back to Bali where it had all begun.