Summer of Secrets by Rosie Rushton

Author:Rosie Rushton [Rushton, Rosie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781853409073
Publisher: Piccadilly Press

CHAPTER 6

‘How many were the examples to justify even the blackest suspicion?’

(Jane Austen, Northanger Abbey)

CAITLIN RUBBED SUNSCREEN ON TO HER ARMS AND stretched out on Gina’s deck.

As they motored along past villages that clung to the hillsides like lopsided cardboard houses in a children’s art display, Summer sat beside her, lost in thought, her knees tucked under her chin. Ludo had handed the controls over to Jamie, who had been very enthusiastic at the start, but was now, Caitlin noticed, anxiously looking over his shoulder every few minutes to the back of the boat where Izzy and Freddie were laughing and joking as if they’d known one another for years.

‘Who’s for a dip?’ Gabriella called, pulling off her sarong to reveal a gold and silver tankini. ‘Last one in the water’s a sissy!’

Jamie killed the engine and she executed a perfect dive, swam under the boat and emerged the other side, laughing and beckoning to them to join her.

Ludo pulled off his T-shirt and dived in beside her.

‘Come on, you two,’ he called to Caitlin and Summer.

Summer shook her head and waved him away. Caitlin hesitated.

‘I can’t dive,’ she admitted reluctantly. ‘And – well, I’m not that strong a swimmer out of my depth.’

She could have kicked herself for being so totally uncool.

‘You’ll be fine,’ Ludo assured her. ‘Sit on the edge and slide in. I’ll catch you.’

She eased herself gingerly into the cool water, grasping his hand as she did so. As she let go of the boat he caught her and pulled her close and for the briefest instant, their eyes met and his face approached hers, his lips parting slightly.

‘Yow-eeee!’

A huge splash engulfed them as Freddie dived into the water, closely followed by Izzy, who managed only a cracking belly flop. Caitlin could cheerfully have murdered him. By the time she’d wiped the water from her eyes, Ludo was powering towards the beach, cutting through the water with all the grace and ease of a dolphin. Izzy and Freddie were splashing one another like a pair of hyperactive five-year-olds and Jamie, still at the helm, was starting to look decidedly petulant.

‘Bring the boat in, Jamie,’ Ludo yelled. ‘We can picnic here.’ He gestured to a wooden landing stage a hundred metres or so up the beach. Caitlin knew there was no way her uncoordinated breast stroke would get her that far; she pulled herself back on to the deck and sat splashing her feet in the water as they drifted to their anchoring spot.

‘Listen,’ Summer hissed at her, pulling her to one side. ‘As soon as we’ve eaten, we say we’re going for a walk, OK? There’s a path from the landing stage that goes round the headland right into Vernazza village.’

Despite wanting to stay as close to Ludo as possible, Caitlin couldn’t help feeling a frisson of excitement at the thought of what lay ahead. Those wild paintings by Summer’s mum were clearly in a class of their own. It was a crime to have them hidden away from the public.

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