Cut Adrift by Jane Jesmond

Author:Jane Jesmond
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Oldcastle Books
Published: 2022-12-08T10:58:40+00:00

Sixteen

I woke early, uneasy and unhappy but knowing I had to do something, just not sure what. Whatever was going on and whoever the terrorist was, Nick thought Ma was in danger and that was enough. I’d head over to Mdina and tell her everything. The problem was Rania and Aya. She wouldn’t want to leave them. And neither did I.

I stitched up the worst of the rip in her dress with the sewing kit from the hotel bathroom and put it back on with a pair of leggings underneath and my battered and broken trainers on my feet. Then I pulled the plug on the clothes in the bath and left them to drain, whizzing past the staff in reception. I’d explain about the missing rug and curtain tiebacks later.

Mdina looked different in the day. The streets were filled with tourists oohing and aahing and pointing cameras. Everywhere you looked there was a stunning shot waiting to be taken. A mass of purple bougainvillea framed a green door. A narrow alley, lined with shuttered windows and shrubs, curved out of sight. A glimpse of blue sky and a courtyard garden through an open door. People brushed up against me in the narrow streets and every inadvertent touch, every nudge brought Nick’s words about being stabbed in a crowd back to me. At the very least I’d have to persuade Ma to stay at Peter’s.

But when I reached the house no one answered. I pressed the bell over and over again and then hammered on the door several times, even though I’d heard the strident ring through the thick wood.

I phoned Peter.

‘Where’s Ma? I’ve come to see her. I’m outside your house.’

Please say you’ve both nipped round the corner for a coffee or she’s gone to get bread.

‘I’m sorry, Jenifry. We’re out. I’ve got a meeting and Morwenna has gone to the camp.’

‘To the camp?’

Despite the warmth of the sun, I felt cold.

‘Amalia phoned. Rania and Aya were discharged from hospital this morning. Your mother’s gone to the camp to see them and I’m meeting someone in case we need a passage off Malta.’

Ma had gone to the camp. The one place above all she needed to keep away from.

‘I didn’t have time to take her before my meeting. She said she’d catch the bus and walk the last part. There’s no rush because the girls won’t arrive until mid-morning.’

Bus. The bus was probably safe. But walking from the bus stop to the camp?

I hurried out through the square and back to my car, the phone pressed to my ear.

‘Didn’t she call you?’ Peter said. ‘She was going to.’

‘No.’

‘I expect she ran out of time.’

I started running, ignoring the looks on the tourists’ faces as I barged through them.

‘Where is the bus stop? I’ll pick her up.’

The thought of Ma wandering blithely through the drab and deserted roads around the camp wasn’t great.

He explained and told me when the bus would arrive. I did a swift calculation. I had time.

‘Thank you,’ I said, slowing to a walk as I reached the car park.

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