Chapter Thirteen #2
The thrill and exhilaration of the ride down had pumped my veins full of adrenaline, and it was a good ten minutes before I thought to wonder where Leo was.
I’d taken some photos and checked all my socials, then tried to spot him on the volcano but there was no sign.
He should have been down by now, surely.
I wandered over to the wine bar near the exit, which was a sun trap for us surfers to enjoy a nice cold drink.
It was a makeshift bar with big umbrellas and folding chairs that could be packed away at a moment’s notice, and the menu was on a small blackboard.
There were pictures of green grapes, red grapes and pink grapes and on the right a wine glass and six euros. Gotcha.
‘Two white, por favor.’ I pointed at the green grapes and watched as the lady behind the bar poured me out two glasses.
She held the bottle vertically as the wine shot out, both landing on the 250ml line.
Pour-precision-perfect. I’d have bet she could pour a glass spot on with her eyes closed.
I sent Leo a text then sat down to enjoy my wine while people whooped and shrieked their way down the edge of the volcano.
The sun was warm and comforting as I moved onto Leo’s wine and I closed my eyes to enjoy its rays for a few undisturbed minutes.
The alcohol and heat mingled together, masking the ache from my tired limbs after flinging myself down the mountain.
And then the shingle started to shake as the unmistakable pulse of a helicopter appeared overhead, flying low then hovering as it lowered something down and out of sight.
My stomach flipped as I thought of Leo. I hoped he hadn’t hurt himself.
I stretched my neck to see. It looked like someone had been strapped into a zippy bag and was being winched up into the helicopter, but I couldn’t see enough detail to know if it was Leo or not.
I took a photo and the lady behind the bar tutted in disgust.
‘No, it’s my friend. Erm… amigo,’ I said, as I zoomed in on the photo.
I couldn’t make anything out other than a spiky blonde ponytail, but that was enough and I felt my breathing steady.
It wasn’t Leo. He wasn’t hurt. I was still scanning the photo in close-up to see if he was somewhere else on the volcano when he appeared behind me.
‘Worried about me?’ Leo shouted in my ear, making me jump.
‘There you are! Take your time…’ I snapped my phone shut and chucked it in my bag.
‘Sorry, a lady fell over in front of me,’ he replied. ‘I think she’s broken her leg.’
‘That lady?’ I asked, pointing up at the helicopter.
‘Yup. They’ll have her at the hospital in half an hour and can get her plastered up.’
‘I’m starting to think you’re jinxed. Do you normally encounter this many accidents when you go away?’
Leo laughed. ‘Are you suggesting I planted that fish bone in your throat?’
‘Just seems odd,’ I mumbled. I didn’t want to seem ungrateful, but who knew what else might happen. ‘Anyway, you’ve been gone ages. Shouldn’t we be getting back to the boat?’
Leo checked his phone. ‘Jesus. YES! It leaves in half an hour.’
I downed the rest of his wine and followed him out onto the single-track road in front of the volcano, which was dusty and empty.
‘No Uber here, or black cabs likely to drive by,’ I said, looking up and down the road.
‘It will take us ten minutes to walk back to the harbour, then it’s a twenty-minute drive,’ Leo said, totting up the timings in his head.
‘Perfect,’ I replied.
‘Not really Kat,’ he replied, testily. ‘The boat leaves in half an hour, which isn’t the time we should be skidding into harbour.’
‘They won’t go without us,’ I said, hurrying after him as he broke into a jog.
‘I’m pretty sure they will,’ he said. ‘And they’ll take our luggage with them.’
‘I’ll call Heidi and get her to hold it for us,’ I said, confidently. Leo looked at me like I’d completely lost the plot.
‘What are you talking about? They won’t delay thousands of people on holiday for us. We’re not even real guests. We’re head office – the worst kind of guest, hated by the staff above all others. They’re convinced we are spies.’
I heard the gentle thrum of a car engine behind us.
‘Quick! Take your top off!’ I shouted to Leo’s back as I stuck out my thumb and lifted my dress to the shin.
I’d never hitched before, but I was pretty sure that this was how you did it.
A packed family Volvo drove by with the kids in the back and one of them blew me a raspberry with his thumbs down. Little shit.
‘We’re not in Ibiza,’ Leo said, irritated. ‘Getting your legs out won’t get us a lift here.’
‘OK, smart-arse, what’s your idea, then?’
‘To RUN!’ he shouted over his shoulder, taking off towards the harbour.
After a hike, a volcanic surfing sesh and two large glasses of wine, I wasn’t at my athletic best and I wasn’t a runner on a good day.
I followed as fast as I could, speedwalking like an overzealous New Year’s Resolution-er but I didn’t feel hugely motivated, if I was being honest. I half wanted to miss the boat and have a break from Heidi’s scrutiny for a little while.
We could catch them up tomorrow. By the time I got to the harbour Leo was tearing his hair out with no taxis to be seen.
‘Do your best, mate,’ he said into his phone and hung up. ‘Zach will try and buy us some time, and there’s a guy inside calling us a cab.’ He pointed into the coffee shop we’d been in that morning where the waiter was shrugging into his landline and shaking his head.
‘In twenty minute, taxi comes here?’ he called out as a question, lowering the handset to ask.
‘We need it quickly. Vamos?’ Leo pleaded.
The man shook his head. ‘Iz no possible. Iz twenty minute.’