Summer on the Turquoise Coast by Summer on the Turquoise Coast

Author:Summer on the Turquoise Coast [Coast, Summer on the Turquoise]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781788632737
Publisher: Canelo Digital Publishing Ltd
Published: 2018-08-09T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 20

It might have been the bang that woke her or the coach’s abrupt deceleration, but when Nina opened her eyes to see the driver on his mobile yet again (weren’t there any laws in this country against using a mobile phone whilst driving?) and heard his rapid-fire Turkish, she experienced a flash of irritation. Their guide, Yasin, was reaching for the microphone. He hadn’t said much after the coach had picked up the rest of the passengers from an assortment of hotels and apartments along the way, except for introducing himself and giving them a brief rundown of what to expect during the day, then left them to it for the past hour. Nina spent some of that time watching Turkey speed past at sixty miles an hour, before the rhythm of tyres on tarmac and the heat sent her to sleep.

She was wide awake now and watching the drama unfold. Flat tyre apparently, she gathered, as they pulled over onto the side of the dusty road.

No one got out, apart from the driver and Yasin, everyone else was content to wait in the comfort of the air-conditioned coach until the tyre fairy solved the problem.

Only, the tyre fairy wasn’t able to come to them any time soon, and after half an hour everyone piled off. Yasin led them across the road and into what looked like someone’s back garden. A few large tables were set out under some trees, and a boy gestured for them to sit. His father (Nina assumed it was his father) brought out several huge green melons and cut them open with a massive knife.

She understood the coach had broken down, but couldn’t they have gone somewhere else, like a proper service station, or a café?

Nina realised she was being grumpy and put it down to having been woken from a lovely nap. Her mood lifted when Leo approached, asking if he might sit with them. Flossie gave him a watermelon grin, juice dripping down her chin, and he sat down, accepting his own slice with a smile.

‘Have you seen the size of that man’s knife?’ Nina hissed, taking a piece gratefully. ‘He could be an axe murderer.’

‘An axe murderer who used a knife instead, and feeds you water melon before he kills you?’ Leo bit into the melon, and pink juice dribbled down his own chin. He and Flossie grinned at each other.

‘You know what I mean,’ Nina said, smiling at a woman (the mother?) who held aloft a large silver teapot whilst one of the other children grasped a tray of small Turkish tea glasses sitting on individual silver saucers.

‘Cay?’ the woman asked, and the child shoved the tray in their direction.

‘Got any Tetley?’ Flossie asked hopefully.

The question was met with blank stares.

‘Cay?’ the woman repeated.

‘I suppose.’ Flossie gave in and the child handed her a glass. A bowl of sugar was placed on the table.

Flossie’s dentures rattled against the glass as she took a sip. ‘Not bad, for foreign muck,’ she said.

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